Green light for Verdion’s €1 billion North White-Westphalia industrial and commercial park
Verdion has been given the go ahead for a major industrial and logistics park on the German/Dutch border west of Düsseldorf.
Verdion has been given the go ahead for a major industrial and logistics park on the German/Dutch border west of Düsseldorf.
Verdion Javelin Park Niederrhein will offer 650,000 sq m of advanced industrial, manufacturing and logistics accommodation on the 158-ha site. Designed to exceed the DGNB Platinum sustainability rating, it will be powered entirely by renewable energy and surrounded by green space. It has an anticipated GDV of €1.04 billion.
Formerly home to post-war military base RAF Brüggen and vacated by the British in 2015, the municipality of Niederkrüchten-Elmpt selected Verdion exclusively to transform the site in March 2021. An extensive period of design development and local engagement to redevelop the brownfield land has since been undertaken, creating the park’s masterplan and unique energy concept.
Verdion is now marketing the opportunity for built to suit – including for pharma, data centres, R&D and manufacturing as well as groceries and specialist logistics – based on an indicative masterplan with flexibility to accommodate requirements of 100,000+ sq m in size and 40m in height. Phased speculative development is also planned. Smaller business units for local SMEs are included on adjacent land and being marketed on behalf of the local municipality by WFG Kreis Viersen.
Located directly on the A52 motorway, between Roermond and Mönchengladbach, the majority of the of the Rhine-Ruhr’s urban centres and Duisburg Inland Port are less than an hour from the site. 10 million people live within a 60-minute drive.
Its 46+ MVA renewable power will be generated entirely on-site, providing occupiers with a secure, long-term, local supply that can support corporate sustainability requirements. Any surplus will be diverted to the local community. Wellbeing will be a focus, with scope for a range of leading-edge specifications in the new facilities. Walking, running and cycling trails are planned throughout the park and a landscaping strategy to support biodiversity and indigenous species will be implemented. A museum marking the site’s history is planned, including capacity for community uses and events.
André Banschus, Executive Director at Verdion, said: “This decision unlocks a major strategic site in a cross-border region with a growing population and significant demand for new space.
“Verdion Javelin Park Niederrhein will represent a new generation of industrial park, providing market-leading facilities from a flexible masterplan concept, with a clear focus on secure, renewable power generation, biodiversity and wellbeing.
“This could not be done without our outstanding technical team who have developed the park’s infrastructure and unique energy concept, optimised every detail of the site and worked closely with stakeholders to create this outstanding new opportunity.
“We now have the land, zoning and specialist expertise to deliver a very wide range of large and complex facilities to order. Particularly at this very early stage, there is great scope for innovation and we are excited about the possibilities our occupiers will be able to explore here.”
Verdion specialises in urban logistics, value-add, strategic parks and complex build to suit, transforming predominantly brownfield sites across Germany, the Nordics and UK through technical innovation and deep sector expertise. Its German built to suit track record includes co-designed facilities for electric bike manufacturer Kalkhoff; an R&D facility in the Bavarian Alps and for water technology business Xylem; a new hub for agricultural specialist DeLaval and a specialist chemical storage facility for Boeing, both near Hamburg.
It will develop the site with the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP), one of the strongest and most stable defined benefit pension plans in Canada, which serves over 460,000 healthcare workers in Ontario. Verdion and HOOPP already work in close partnership on large-scale industrial and logistics projects throughout Europe including the iPort multimodal logistics hub in the UK.