Press release

Tender process for real estate areas close to the terminals is up and running
As of now, concepts for the HORIZN BER CITY future district can be submitted

The airport operating company today launched the concept tender process for the first development modules of the HORIZN BER CITY district. During this phase, our Part 1, a pan-European two-tier concept tender process will take place as per the EU Concessions Directive. The tender documents are now available until 16 February 2024 as downloads on the State of Berlin tenders platform. The airport operating company kindly invites property, investment, and project development companies as well as their potential partners and concept creators to take part in this project.

Hybrid range of uses

The first development module provides extraordinary scope for innovative concepts and refreshing usage ideas. These are not fixed in advance for the HORIZN BER CITY district but left to the creativity of the property developers. It is quite conceivable that an array of usages will then be implemented. Alongside modern office, hotel, and congress facilities, the airport operating company expects that the HORIZN BER CITY district will also attract firms providing the technologies of tomorrow, engaged in R&D and prototyping, not to mention small-scale hospitality and shopping units, cultural facilities, and edutainment concepts. Sustainability, biodiversity, and quality of life all play a crucial role in the district, which is destined to be a largely car-free zone.

Advantages of the concept tender process

By realizing a concept tender process, the airport operating company is treading a new path. The overall goal is to create a space for innovation, daring solutions, and dynamic development processes in order to jointly come up with sustainable solutions for the district. Thus, the focus is on the content and sustainability of the concepts submitted rather than on the level of ground rent. Transparently defined framework conditions and assessment criteria for the sub-concepts defined in the tender documents (namely design, usage, sustainability, and mobility) guarantee clarity and comprehensibility for all concerned. The open design of the two-tier tender process will ensure ongoing dialogue between all project participants. Corporations and institutions realizing districts are explicitly encouraged to onboard institutional investors, potential site operators, and future users. Joint venture bids are expressly welcome. The airport operating company feels certain that the tender process will deliver innovative and economically stable concepts.

Timescale

The process kicks off with a market dialogue integrated into the first tender phase. During this, interested bidders can download the tender documents and form bidding joint ventures to devise the initial concept outlines together. In the first half of 2024, the refining phase continues, followed by the offer and negotiation phase in the second half of 2024, during which the concept outlines will be fleshed out to create fully-fledged concepts. The contract is expected to be awarded at the end of 2024.

Information for investors

Please consult the project website for in-depth information and a recording of the concept tender process information event. 

https://www.horizn-ber-city.de/en/konzeptverfahren.html

HORIZN BER City

In the form of HORIZN BER CITY, over the next 20 years an innovative, diverse, and climate-friendly urban space will evolve directly adjacent to the international Berlin Brandenburg Airport. In the heart of BER CITY and only a few minutes on foot from Terminal 1, a superbly planned, vibrant future district boasting mixed commercial usages will arise, focussing on people’s needs by emphasizing sustainable building and usage concepts.

Usage mix and visions

In the form of HORIZN BER CITY, the airport operating company and FBB as the owner of the real estate have set themselves the goal of expanding the range of urban spaces and their commercial use in order to realize the potential to create one of Europe’s most central innovation hubs in the direct vicinity of BER. With a landscaping concept that promotes health and wellbeing, a climate-friendly mobility concept, sustainable and aesthetic architectural concepts, and a multi-dimensional usage mix, HORIZN BER CITY is destined to develop new answers to the central question of how districts can in future be successful and prosper in the long term.

FBB as the owner of the real estate is firmly open to novel and diverse usage scenarios and a mixture of offices, edutainment, hospitality, local shopping, hotels, culture, prototyping, tomorrow’s technologies, and R&D. It is committed to these being embedded in a sequence of parks and recreational areas within the new district as well as creating a “garden loop”, namely a pedestrian path and cycle track running round it.

Connections

HORIZN BER City is only a few minutes on foot from Terminals 1 and 2 at Germany’s third largest airport hub after Frankfurt and Munich. It also boasts superb transport connections thanks to its proximity to the underground rail station, which serves suburban, regional, and long-distance railway lines, not to mention bus shuttles and direct access to the A113 motorway. 

Concept tender process

The first HORIZN BER CITY development module will be planned and realized in a collaborative approach in the course of a two-tier process as per the EU Concessions Directive. The FBB invites property, investment, and project development companies throughout Europe along with their partner companies to devise daring solutions with a strong future. The concept tender process launched on 18 October 2023.

Certification

The first development module has also received GSBC pre-certification in Platinum. 

www.horizn-ber-city.de