Potential for clever investors

The advantages of the technology and science location Adlershof

Synergies between science and economy, outstanding traffic connection, and a fully developed infrastructure are only some of the advantages the technology and science location Adlershof has to offer to investors.

The outcome could hardly be more striking: When in a recent survey, owners of businesses based in Adlershof were asked if they would recommend the location to their entrepreneur friends, 95.7 percent of the respondents answered yes. In fact, more and more investors are becoming active at the tradition-rich science and technology location in the southeast of Berlin. “Never before have we seen as many first stone layings, topping out ceremonies and inaugurations of private investors as we have in 2014 and 2015,” confirms Hardy Schmitz, Managing Director of Adlershof Projekt GmbH, the development agency in charge of the area.

All this bears witness to the success of the Berlin Senate’s future-oriented policy. In the 1990s, subsidies employed by the federal state government laid the foundation for the high international reputation Adlershof is enjoying today. Later, the Senate assigned Adlershof Projekt GmbH to develop the area as a trustee. Today, well over 1,000 businesses with approximately 16,000 employees as well as six institutes of Humboldt University of Berlin (HU) with over 6,000 enrolled students call Adlershof their home.

According to Adlershof Projekt GmbH’s Marketing and Sales Manager Ute Hübener, the close dialogue between science and economy is a vital asset of the location. The proximity to HU and the University of Applied Sciences, Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft (HTW) at Schöneweide only a few kilometres away gives businesses the opportunity to recruit employees at an early stage. Another advantage lies in the synergies between the companies located in Adlershof, Hübener underlines. These synergies are covering a broad range of sectors such as production, research, and service providers.

Evidently, these factors are enhancing Adlershof’s attraction for real estate investors. There are still properties out for sale, among them a core area site prominently situated at the S-Bahn station. Here, as with any property at the location, an exception applies: the property will not be sold at maximum price, but at market value. The bidder with the most convincing concept will be awarded the deal.

Adlershof’s solidity is not least proven by the fact that subsequent buyers were quickly found even in those few cases when an enterprise had failed. For instance, an IT service provider took lodgings in a building initially developed by solar systems technology provider Solon, while another property formerly used by a solar company was taken over by an investor specialised in the development of industrial parks.

Both investors and users profit from Adlershof’s infrastructure which includes good shopping facilities, medical centres, day-care facilities for children and an increasing number of restaurants. Furthermore, a residential area with well over 1,000 apartments is in the process of being built. The city centre of Berlin can easily be reached by S-Bahn or via the motorway. Finally, the fact that Berlin’s future major airport is only a few kilometres away makes one thing clear: Investing in Adlershof seems like the thing to do.

By Emil Schweizer for Adlershof Special