Berlin / Hamburg, 11 November 2021. The Hamburg-based real estate company Becken is stepping up its involvement in the corporate business and is bringing Accenture, a leading global consultant for strategy, management consulting, digitalisation, technology, outsourcing and business transformation, to the planning table for a new office building. The common goal of Becken and Accenture Dienstleistungen GmbH: the development of a trend-setting, innovative and sustainable new corporate location in Walldorf, a town in the south of the Rhein-Neckar district in Baden-Württemberg. The alliance between investor and tenant represents a pilot project for both partners. The planned new office building in Walldorf is intended to set new standards as a prototype in the development of climate-friendly and innovative office work environments. Further new corporate buildings are to follow. The cooperation was preceded by the purchase of the building plot by the project developer Becken and the conclusion of a long-term lease agreement with Accenture Dienstleistungen GmbH.

Olaf Drossert, Managing Director of Becken Estate GmbH, says: "Tailor-made project developments with a focus on climate protection and sustainability will experience even greater demand in the future. Companies, especially those from the B2C sector, have understood that consumers and business partners are now looking very closely at who is making a contribution to climate protection." According to the company, both parties are investing considerable capacity and capital to develop forward-looking, sustainable technologies.
Karl Rathgeb, member of the management board of Accenture Dienstleistungen GmbH, explains: "The partnership with Becken, a professional and sustainable real estate player, will have a positive impact on our new company location in Walldorf in every respect."
Representatives of both companies will examine various aspects of the planned project development over the coming months through a series of joint workshops and, if suitable, realise it in Walldorf. Among other things, alternative building materials such as wood, a self-sufficient energy supply, for example fed from a hydrogen power plant, a photovoltaic system or geothermal or geothermal cooling, as well as an innovative operator concept with smart tools for sustainable and energy-reduced management are under discussion.

Joachim Schmidt-Mertens, Managing Director of Becken Development says: "We will plan and implement an innovative office workspace concept with our tenant. Coupled with climate-friendly and smart technologies, such properties ensure the long-term satisfaction of the building user." According to Rathgeb, Accenture is also pursuing a long-term goal: "We want to work only in CO2-neutral properties by 2025. Where suitable buildings are lacking, we will have suitable locations built for us."

Accenture wants to significantly strengthen its on-site presence in Walldorf for clients, customers and the joint venture partner SAP. The company also wants to offer its staff innovative and creativity-promoting working environments in the sense of a New Office World, in order to ultimately be able to offer even better solutions for clients. Rathgeb says: "It is important for us to be perceived as an innovative and attractive employer. Our buildings are our business card.

After completion of the prototype, Accenture will use 3,800 square metres of state-of-the-art office rental space and 33 car parking spaces in Walldorf. Construction will take place on an approximately 1,500 square metre plot of land at Dietmar-Hopp-Allee 19. For Becken, too, the building plot is associated with a statement. Jörn Stobbe, spokesman for the management of Becken Holding GmbH, says: "With the Walldorf project development, Becken is signalling that we, as a real estate investor active throughout Germany, are prepared to jointly exploit market opportunities in cooperation with companies, even in atypical markets and market segments, and to develop forward-looking as well as sustainable company locations."