HPP study trip to Hamburg!


  General news, HPP-Y-GEN

 

by Etienne Cox, board member of HPP-Y-GEN

With a delegation of HPP-members we had a great time visiting Hamburg, to see various development sites. Probably the biggest lesson learned was that the German and Dutch real estate sector are very similar, meaning that we can easily learn from each other’s best practices. One of these lessons, successfully applied in Hamburg, is to not only combine several functions (office, housing, commercial, education) in one area, but also within each immovable property. We were also very inspired by the reuse of materials and the rezoning of building and brownfields.

We first stopped at the Hammerbrooklyn Campus, a reused building from the Expo 2015 in Milan. Developer & investor Art-Invest Real Estate went through a considerable learning curve when reconstructing the campus building, which is to be the anchor for the area development.

The next stop was Hamburg Hafencity. A gigantic area development that has been running for several decades and is not yet finished. Moreover, two further area developments are already coming up: Grasbrook across the Elbe and ScienceCity in Hamburg Bahrenfeld. Instead of keeping the water out of Hafencity, it was decided to move with the water. So at extremely high water, the streets fill up and the plinths of the buildings close off. This is why there are so many walkways above the streets.

   

We finally were guided through the Feldstrasse Bunker in St Pauli. An apocalyptic bunker from WWII that now houses a hotel, a multifunctional hall for 2,500 guests and a public rooftop park. Very impressive to see how a positive future is given to a structure with a negative past.

The second day – despite poor weather conditions – we took a guided cycle tour of the city where we were given an explanation of the history of urban planning in Hamburg.

   

 

The city trip to Hamburg was organized by the board of HPP-Y-GEN, a community with next-generation decision-makers. With professionals from the so-called Generation Y from all disciplines in the real estate sector, they form a strong intellectual network with an innovative approach. The value proposition of HPP-Y-GEN for its members is two-fold. On the one hand, the HPP-Y-GEN community offers its members a trusted, informal platform where they can share thoughts with like-minded professionals. On the other hand, by being part of HPP they get to engage with established and seasoned leaders from the wider HPP Community.

Read more about the HPP-Y-GEN Community