ONE YEAR OF SPURWERK - BREMEN'S FIRST SUSTAINABLE QUARTER TAKES SHAPE
Where mountains of rubble were piled up last year, the first three shells of the SPURWERK are now standing. In one of these, we reviewed the eventful year in front of more than 100 invited guests from politics and business at a wintry construction site party.
Gabriele Nießen, State Councillor in the Construction Department, and Dr. Matthias Fonger, Chief Executive of the Bremen Chamber of Commerce, were unanimous in their praise of the importance of SPURWERK for Bremen's economic and sustainable development.
In the course of the event, Sparkasse Bremen announced that, as a result of a joint pilot project, SPURWERK meets the criteria for a so-called "green loan".
In the future, borrowers whose projects meet EU-relevant sustainability criteria will be eligible for such certification. In the case of SPURWERK, this was the taxonomy-compliant construction method.
On behalf of Sparkasse Bremen, board member Thomas Fürst symbolically handed over the certificate to Christoph Peper, managing partner of the Peper & Söhne group of companies. An elementary component of the sustainability concept of the SPURWERK is the renunciation of fossil fuels for the heat supply of the quarter.
Back in October, SPURWERK was awarded the gold pre-certificate of the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB), making it the first neighborhood in Bremen to be
certified as sustainable.
First full occupancy at SPURWERK
Peper described how, despite adversities such as the nationwide discontinuation of KfW funding for sustainable buildings, the company had continued to hold on to the "heart project" and thanked the partners involved in SPURWERK, including GOLDBECK Nord GmbH, Bremen branch (total contractor) and the Robert C. Spies Unternehmensgruppe (sales partner) for their cooperation.
Peper also had positive news to report in terms of leasing. The first of the two commercial units under construction has already been fully let. The companies Famo, Reesa, Sto and Würth will share approx. 3,000 m2 of rental space after completion. Advanced discussions are also underway for the remaining space in the other commercial unit, as well as with the first potential office users in the Arbeitswelt.
Voices on the development of SPURWERK
"For us as an investor and project developer from Bremen, the SPURWERK is a project close to our hearts. We are proud that our efforts to create a sustainable design for the quarter are being honored, and we are pleased that our rental offers and the mix of spaces have already been very well received on the part of the market as well," says Christoph Peper, Managing Partner of the Peper & Söhne Group of Companies.
"With a first resolution on the statutes in 2022, we have succeeded in reclaiming a site for urban development that had been ignored for years and in setting a prelude for a new commercial location in Bremen's Neustadt.
The rapid implementation of the planning as well as the buildings with a high standard of sustainable heat supply from renewable energies represent an important contribution to achieving the climate protection goals in Bremen," says Gabriele Nießen, State Councillor at the Senator for Climate Protection, Environment, Mobility, Urban Development and Housing.
"The SPURWERK project is a testament to entrepreneurial commitment and foresight. It is exemplary for the location-politically sensible, resource-saving use of old sites. SPURWERK demonstrates that innovative commercial buildings and building configurations can be used to implement sustainable real estate developments successfully and for the benefit of Bremen, even under the current difficult conditions," says Dr. Matthias Fonger, Managing Director of the Bremen Chamber of Commerce.
More about SPURWERK: www.spurwerk.net
Photo: Björn Hake