17.12.2015

A new neighbour for the Meander Building

GIZ to invest EUR 158 million in new building in Bonn

Bonn, 17 December 2015. The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH is continuing to invest in its registered offices in Bonn. First, it moved into the ‘Meander Building’ located at Friedrich-Ebert-Allee 36 in June 2015, and now it is planning to construct a new building right next door; a six-storey office complex with room for around 850 staff members across some 30,000 square metres of office space. Notarisation of the purchase agreement took place on 17 December in the Meander Building with Bonn’s Mayor, Ashok-Alexander Sridharan, in attendance. Signing on GIZ’s behalf were the Chair of the Management Board, Tanja Gönner, and her fellow Managing Director, Hans-Joachim Preuß. The vendor, the Ten Brinke Group, was represented by its Managing Director, Albert ten Brinke. With the purchase, GIZ is to invest around EUR 158 million in a second office building by the roundabout on the major ‘B9’ thoroughfare.

‘Bonn is a key location for GIZ’s international cooperation activities, and it is important to us that we strengthen it,’ said Tanja Gönner, before adding that besides the close proximity to GIZ’s main commissioning party, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), cooperation with international institutions based in the city was another reason behind the decision. At the same time, GIZ is also helping to strengthen Bonn’s international profile as Germany’s United Nations city.

The new building will benefit GIZ staff, who are currently working at three different sites in Bonn. Scheduled for completion in 2019, the new office building will form part of a campus together with the Meander Building where all staff will work side by side.

‘The new building is to be constructed in keeping with high ecological standards and, in terms of its design and fittings, will be fully compliant with modern-day administration requirements,’ explains Hans-Joachim Preuß. A low environmental burden, the use of renewable energies and functional architecture show that GIZ intends to give its staff a sustainable working environment.

The experienced property and project development company Ten Brinke has won the commission to construct the new building. ‘As with the Meander Building, resource-friendly construction design is key,’ says Albert ten Brinke.

The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH is a federally owned organisation. We support the German Government in the fields of international cooperation for sustainable development and international education. Through our work we assist people and societies in shaping their own future and improving their living conditions.

A family-owned company founded in 1902, the Ten Brinke Group operates Europe wide, but focuses specifically on the German market where it executes projects in the retail, housing construction, office building and logistics sector. In its capacity as project developer, investor, building contractor and asset manager, the Ten Brinke Group is responsible for developing areas of between 150,000 and 200,000 square metres each year. Its Joint Venture Partner for the Bonn project is BLI.

The sale was coordinated and assisted by Edith Bosau, Managing Director of the real estate management company, Bosau Immobilien-Management GmbH.