In line with its strategy to grow at central locations with ideal transport connections and in the direct vicinity of delivery areas, Prologis has acquired 16 hectares of land in Dortmund. The land was sold by Dortmund Logistik GmbH and is a section of the former Westfalenhütte sintering site. The property will be transferred to Prologis when ground preparations finish in 2020.

Prologis plans to develop an approximately 90,000 square meter logistics park with three facilities on the plot. The properties will be leased to operators in the logistics industry. The site is especially suitable for e-commerce businesses, logistics service providers and retail logistics companies.

Densely populated areas, such as the Ruhr district, have excellent infrastructure and provide a highly qualified workforce, decisive factors for the logistics sector in particular. And space for logistics facilities in the Ruhr district is in high demand, making this acquisition all the more valuable. The lack of suitable plots has become an increasingly limiting factor, especially in such regions as Rhine-Ruhr. Brownfield developments are often the only way to build logistics facilities in top-class locations.

There are currently height differences of up to 9 meters at the site in Dortmund. To flatten the site, around 3,000 metric tons of ground material will be delivered every day from mid-2018 until completion of the ground preparations. Lime will be added to the material onsite, which will be used to pack down the substrate. This way, the ground will meet the strict stability requirements.

The region in Dortmund will give us, as experts in brownfield development, the opportunity to develop premium distribution space at a coveted logistics location in the coming years. The revitalization of brownfield sites is a sustainable solution for logistics facilities because it reduces sealed soil, and in many cases, prior contamination is removed. With this project, we can give the former industrial plot in Dortmund a new purpose.

Prologis already has a wealth of experience with brownfield development:

• We acquired a former production building belonging to the chip manufacturer NXP in Hamburg-Hausbruch and built a new distribution center on the site.

• We also acquired parts of the Beiersdorf company premises in Hamburg-Hausbruch. We demolished disused production facilities on sections of the site and constructed around 40,000 square meters of modern premium distribution space.
• In Pulheim, northwest of Cologne, we acquired 47,500 square meters of land. Because the land was completely sealed with cement, the demolition work was extensive. We intend to build a 24,000 square meter logistics facility onsite.
• Prologis is planning a logistics park of about 63,000 square meters in size on about 100,000 square meters of undeveloped land in Cologne-Niehl. A petroleum company owned the land, and the grounds were part of a refinery.