Garbe hands over Lower Saxony logistics centre

One year after the start of construction, Garbe Industrial Real Estate GmbH has completed a new central warehouse for the hagebau Group in Walsrode, Lower Saxony (Germany).

The property, with a total area of around 43,000 sq m, has now been officially handed over to the logistics subsidiary of the building materials and DIY store cooperation. Its omnichannel and logistics activities are to be bundled in Walsrode in the future. Garbe Industrial Real Estate invested around €34m in the new building.

The logistics centre was built on a 100,000 square metre site in the “A27park” industrial and commercial area. It is located directly on the A 27 motorway. The Walsroder Triangle is located in the immediate vicinity. There is a connection to the A7 motorway, one of the most important north-south connections in Germany.

“The central location in the Hamburg-Hanover-Bremen city triangle speaks for itself,” emphasises Jan Dietrich Hempel, Managing Director of Garbe Industrial Real Estate. “In the current difficult times, which in the construction sector are characterised by irregularities in the supply chains and shortages of materials, our thanks go to all those involved in the project for their solution-oriented and constructive cooperation.”

The city of Walsrode also contributed to the quick success of the project by cooperatively facilitating the examination and approval by the building authority within a very short period of time. The project had previously been initiated by the Deltaland mbH business development agency, which, as the city’s service provider, had put the project participants in touch with the location.

Garbe Industrial Real Estate had prevailed as preferred partner for the project development in a multi-stage bidding process conducted by Logivest as the logistics real estate consultant and project manager commissioned by hagebau, and acquired the site ready for construction in November 2020.

A building was erected on top of it, which is divided into four hall sections, each measuring 10,500 sq m. In addition, there are around 1,300 sq m for offices and social rooms. The property is equipped with 40 dock levellers and three ground-level gates. In addition, the object has a gate for side unloading.

The tenant of the new building is hagebau Logistik GmbH & Co KG. It handles the warehousing, order picking and distribution of the product range, which comprises around 10,000 different articles, for the around 360 member companies of the building materials trading and DIY store cooperation.

“The Walsrode site will set standards and play a decisive role in our logistics strategy,” explains Gerritt Höppner-Tietz, Managing Director of hagebau Logistik. The property in the “A27park” will serve as a central warehouse in the future. From there, both the five regional warehouses and the construction and building materials markets are to be supplied. In addition, online orders are to be shipped from Walsrode.

“Numerous jobs will be created in Walsrode for this purpose. A total of up to 150 people will be employed at the site,” adds Höppner-Tietz.

Parking spaces for 122 cars, 20 trucks and 20 bicycles are available in the outdoor area. A photovoltaic system is installed on the roof of the logistics centre to generate renewable energy. Garbe Industrial Real Estate is striving for certification according to the Gold Standard of the German Sustainable Building Council for the entire property.

“We will transfer the logistics centre to our own real estate management and remain a reliable contact for our tenant even after completion,” concludes Hempel, referring to the corporate strategy of Garbe Industrial Real Estate. The property still has potential for expansion. If required, a fifth hall section with an additional 10,000 sq m of space can be built.