Garbe Industrial Real Estate hands over automobile logistics centre near Wolfsburg

News 04/06/2020

Hamburg/Flechtorf, 4 June 2020 – After almost a year of construction, Garbe Industrial Real Estate GmbH in Flechtorf south of Wolfsburg, Germany, has completed the ultra-modern automobile logistics centre for the engineering service provider Bertrandt. At the beginning of June, the property with a hall area of over 30,000 square metres was officially handed over to the tenant. The total investment volume amounts to 35 million euros. The logistics property is part of the portfolio of the UniImmo: Europa open-ended real estate fund from Union Investment, for which the fund company acquired the property in February as part of the Logistrial portfolio transaction.

The automobile logistics centre was built on a 75,000 square metre site in the Flechtorf industrial park (Helmstedt district).  “In Flechtorf, we can centralize all workshop activities in one place,” explains Ralf Domogalla, technical branch manager of the Tappenbeck site (Gifhorn district), which forms part of the new facility. “In the future, areas such as vehicle and component diagnostics, assembly, painting, body construction and logistics will be housed here.”

Production-related and logistics services under one roof – this is the kind of utilization mix of that corporate real estate offers. “Their strength lies in their flexibility,” emphasizes Jan Dietrich Hempel, managing director of Garbe Industrial Real Estate GmbH. The Hamburg-based company specialises in the development of logistics and mixed-use corporate real estate. In Flechtorf, for example, a 17,900 square metre hall is available for vehicle construction. It is divided into individual work areas by means of partitions. “Thanks to access-controlled hall sections, we can provide a professional service to several customers all at the same time,” says Ralf Domogalla. Vehicle components such as airbags, shock absorbers, tyres and spare parts are stored in a second, 13,800 square metre hall. In addition, there are about 3,100 square metres for social rooms, canteen, and offices, which are mainly distributed as mezzanine areas between the two halls. Garbe Industrial Real Estate commissioned the company Goldbeck as general building contractor.

For the loading and unloading of trucks and swap bodies, the automotive logistics centre is equipped with a total of 14 dock levellers and 16 ground-level sectional doors. Parking spaces for 249 cars and six trucks have been created on the outdoor grounds. Bertrandt will in future employ around 250 people in Flechtorf. The first sections of the automotive logistics centre are scheduled to go into operation in mid-June.

According to Bertrandt, one of the main reasons for the decision to settle in Flechtorf was its convenient location. The junction to the Autobahn 39, connecting Wolfsburg with Braunschweig, is only 500 metres away from the automobile logistics centre. Via motorway 39, the location has also access to motorway 2, linking Hanover with Berlin.