(BERLIN) — Hines, the international real estate firm, is currently developing 664 residential units for some 1,200 residents in Berlin's district Südkreuz. By autumn 2020, the project will be completed on a total area of 21,430 square meters. The company is thus not only creating living space close to the city centre, which Berlin urgently needs, but is also setting new standards in residential construction. Hines benefits from the expertise of numerous well-known PropTechs and partner companies. This will create a cross-generational future-oriented city quarter, in which interactivity among residents is promoted. There is already great interest in the apartments of city quarter Südkreuz. Slightly more than half of the units currently being marketed have already been leased out.
Joachim Wintzer, Managing Director at Hines, says: "Our objective is to provide the future residents with maximum living and quality of life. Therefore, the city quarter Südkreuz combines innovative living trends and forms of living from all over the world in a unique form. We are curious to see how our concept will be received and we are always open for new ideas. The high demand for our apartments already shows that we meet the exact needs of tenants. We are therefore glad to help shape the future of living together with numerous well-known partners and would like to thank all those involved for their effective cooperation.”
The city quarter Südkreuz is innovative. Through its holistic networking of buildings, residents and administration, it can be managed sustainably and cost-effectively. This networking also ensures a unique user experience. Therefore, Hines cooperates with REOS, the provider of cloud platforms for real estate management. The Hamburg-based company is responsible for the intelligent Internet of Things (IoT) building control system and all data processing in the Südkreuz city district. The company is also developing the Südkreuz-App, which is accessible exclusively to future residents and allows to adapt community offerings to their individual needs. In the future, this will also include the booking and rental of common rooms within the app.
Tom Leppin, Managing Partner at REOS, says: "Our objective is to transfer as many manual tasks as possible into digital processes. With our platform solution, the decisive rental and administration processes as well as management procedures can be significantly simplified. Hence, we create a contemporary, worth living experience in the city quarter Südkreuz. We are pleased to be able to make our contribution to this forward-looking residential project.”
REOS has also involved other cooperation partners from the software and IoT hardware sector. SimonsVoss is responsible for the locking system, the bell system is from SKS. The residents can also receive and send parcels via a parcel box system provided by RENZ. Each of these products features a high degree of digitalization. In combination, they open a new milestone of intelligent neighborhood networking for the very first time.
With www.südkreuz.com, the company BRICKS provides a comprehensive digitalized rental process for the city quarter Südkreuz based on the REOS system for the first time. Interested parties can find all the information they need on products and infrastructure of the emerging future district. Additionally, the apartments can be viewed virtually and immediately leased digitally. The applicant’s data is entered directly and, after a subsequent credit check, transferred online for the conclusion of the rental contract. The availability of the residential units is updated in real time. This service is provided in cooperation with brokerage house Moovin.
BRICKS is also supporting the marketing as well as cooperation with companies such as SHARE NOW, in order to offer future residents an attractive overall package via intelligent home services. BRICKS equally designed the advertising campaign for the residential project, which is unprecedented in the real estate industry. The company further develops and implements digital products and sustainable solutions for the real estate industry. For example, the ideas for networked micro apartments and several amenities, such as a roof garden for the residents of the city quarter Südkreuz, were provided by the experts for innovative residential construction.
Wolf Schneider, CEO of BRICKS Technologies, says: "The real estate industry must rethink the future of living and working. Traditional residential and office solutions no longer work for a digital and mobile society. Together with Hines, creating an innovative and intelligent home for more than 1,200 people in the middle of the metropolis of Berlin makes the future-oriented city quarter Südkreuz a very special project for us."
Architecturally, the future tenants can expect an impressive aesthetic concept overall, especially through variations in the façade elements of the respective houses. The Leipzig architectural office Fuchshuber is responsible for this. They attach importance specifically to the design of the community amenities. The aim is to create places that act as a showpiece for the quarter both inside and out. The design office Kinzo was commissioned to design the individual areas and to combine them in the best possible way, both functionally and architecturally. In this way, ideas, such as the bicycle repair shop being directly adjacent to the 1,000 parking spaces or the pavilion that can be used as an event space and outdoor kitchen and which is prominently positioned in the garden, are realized. In addition, there will be a coworking space, garden, playground and launderette, equipped with intelligent washing solutions from WeWash. This harmonious overall concept promotes urban togetherness in the city quarter Südkreuz.
Chris Middleton, Managing Director of Kinzo, says: "We love the hybridization of different uses. Hines’ concept of upgrading one of Berlin's largest housing projects with innovative communal areas and sharing concepts has inspired us from the very beginning. The smart combination of classic community services makes it possible to bring together users of all generations. Trough the appropriate design language in the composition, the innovation-driven identity is also rounded off in a pleasant way.”
The construction company Züblin will construct the total of ten residential buildings and hand them over ready for occupancy. Additionally, there is the construction of a commercial building, a shared underground car park and the execution of the outdoor facilities. Hines has also commissioned DU-Diederichs with project management as well as contract awarding and site supervision of structural engineering and technical installations.
Further information on the Südkreuz city quarter can be found here: www.südkreuz.com
Hines is a privately owned global real estate investment firm founded in 1957 with a presence in 205 cities in 24 countries. Hines has approximately $133.3 billion of assets under management, including $71 billion for which Hines serves as investment manager, including non-real estate assets, and $62.3 billion for which Hines provides third-party property-level services. The firm has 165 developments currently underway around the world. Historically, Hines has developed, redeveloped or acquired 1,393 properties, totaling over 459 million square feet. The firm’s current property and asset management portfolio includes 539 properties, representing over 232 million square feet. With extensive experience in investments across the risk spectrum and all property types, and a pioneering commitment to sustainability, Hines is one of the largest and most-respected real estate organizations in the world.
Since entering Europe in 1991, Hines has grown its European platform to include offices in 16 cities as well as a presence in 49 cities in 11 countries, with €20.9 billion of assets under management in Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom.
Since the opening of its location in Germany in 1991, Hines has acquired or developed a total of 54 properties with a total area of more than 2 million sqm for Hines or on behalf of external clients, including well-known properties such as Maintower, 160 Park View and Silberturm in Frankfurt, Zoom and Quartier Südkreuz in Berlin, Hofstatt, Uptown Munich and OSKAR in Munich, Überseequartier Nord in Hamburg, Benrather Karree and Kö-Quartier in Düsseldorf and Postquartier and Kronprinzbau 1+2 in Stuttgart. Currently, Hines manages properties in Germany with a total value of approximately 4.8 billion euros as an asset or development manager.
Visit www.hines.com for more information.
