Hamburg/Düsseldorf, November 16, 2022. Becken, a specialist in the development, realization, long-term asset and investment management of commercial and residential real estate, celebrated the traditional laying of the foundation stone for the "CURVE" office project development in Düsseldorf on Wednesday afternoon, 16 November. The guest of honor at the laying of the foundation stone was Ulrike Lappeßen, Head of the Building Supervisory Office of the City of Düsseldorf. The new multi-tenant office property is currently under construction in the Friedrichstadt district of Düsseldorf city center. The laying of the foundation stone on the construction site at Helmholtzstrasse 19 / Scheurenstrasse 34, 40215 Düsseldorf symbolically marked the start of construction on the 4,000 square meter construction site. On the occasion of the ceremonial laying of the foundation stone, documents of the present were walled up in a time capsule.

Around 10,800 square meters of total rental space with variable office units from 400 square meters in size will be built in the "CURVE". The six-storey office building includes a two-storey underground car park with around 200 parking spaces and pre-equipment for e-charging stations for cars and electric bikes. Earthworks on the site began at the end of 2021 and were completed with the start of the shell construction work in September 2022. The project development is proceeding according to plan and is scheduled for completion at the end of 2024. The investment volume is estimated at 82 million euros. The project is being financed by BayernLB and the Becken Group's Repe Fund II.

The first rental agreement was concluded in November 2021 with Verbraucherzentrale Nordrhein-Westfalen e.V. for a term of 20 years. The consumer advice center has leased around 6,900 square meters of rental space in the office complex. This corresponds to a pre-letting rate of around 70%. Marketing of the remaining rental space is active.

Dominik Tenhumberg, Managing Director of Becken Development GmbH, emphasized: "We are very proud to be constructing this identity-creating office building in the city centre, close to Düsseldorf's main railway station. With 'CURVE', we are optimally closing the gap between our existing building at Luisenstrasse 105 and creating a future-proof office location that meets both urban planning requirements and the highest standards of sustainability and digitalization."

Joachim Schmidt-Mertens, Managing Director of Becken Development GmbH, said in his speech during the foundation stone ceremony: "The 'CURVE' allows for a high degree of flexibility and divisibility of the rental space. This enabled us to develop a user-specific and sustainable space concept together with the new tenant, Verbraucherzentrale Nordrhein-Westfalen e.V.".

DGNB Gold certification aimed for and Wired Score certified
The "CURVE" is to be awarded the DGNB Gold certificate by the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB) as proof of the sustainable quality of the new building. The office complex's high level of internet connectivity has already been confirmed by a Wired Score certificate. Conformity with the EU taxonomy has also been certified.

Jörn Stobbe, CEO of Becken Holding GmbH, comments: "The development of the 'CURVE' confirms our focus, which we agreed at the beginning of the year as a target formulation, in particular to grow even stronger through our ESG expertise. I am proud that we are implementing this project in this form despite the tense economic and foreign policy situation."

The architectural firm JSWD was chosen as the designer. Dipl.-Ing. Architect Christian Mammel, Associate Partner at JSWD, said: "We are delighted to have been awarded the contract for the realization of 'CURVE' in the 2018 architectural competition. We can now help to create a special office location with high-quality and flexible working environments in a central location. The cross-shaped floor plan completes the existing building ensemble and forms a new address in the district thanks to the triangular forecourt facing Helmholtzstrasse. The red color of the metal façade deliberately contrasts with the surrounding buildings and underlines the quality of the new building."