Siemens envisions a future campus on the model of Silicon Valley's economy

The group wants to invest 500 to 600 million euros
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2 hours ago

BERLIN –
Siemens wants to create an innovation campus based on the Silicon Valley model in California. There is already a concept for the Berlin location. But it is not clear whether the German capital will be awarded the contract.

The technology company Siemens is planning a major innovation center and intends to invest from 500 to 600 million euros. The "Zukunftscampus" could be created at Siemensstadt in Berlin – or the place is searched for by a worldwide tender, as reported by the business community.

Corresponding plans are currently being discussed by the Executive Board of the Siemens Group. The campus will house offices, research laboratories and high-tech production facilities. It should be established that start-ups, as their Siemens sympathizers understand, should also be a space for project work with scientists and other creative people. So, it is said according to business information in the concept.

Also planned is the construction of apartments for students and other tenants. According to Siemens' ideas, the industrial site will become a modern district in a decade or so, including an area for recreation and leisure. The Management Board of Siemens now wants to talk about the project in the Senate of Berlin

Economy Senator Ramona Pop (Greens) is excited about the idea of ​​a future campus. Siemens shows that "Berlin is a strong place for modern industry, innovation and digitization". The planned development of the city of Siemens in a busy part of the city is also welcome. The economics expert of the CDU, Christian Gräff, spoke of a "historic opportunity for the implantation of Berlin".

The Senate must now do everything possible so that Siemens can implement its project. For Berlin location the historical significance as the company's founding place, existing surfaces and industrial architecture in Siemensstadt, the proximity of the start-up scene as well as the universities of the capital Federal, he said in business circles. Berlin will be awarded the contract. The context is obviously the last difficult relationship between the management and the Senate of Berlin. After a long political dispute, the Senate and District finally rejected Siemens' desire to build its representation of capital in a set listed in mid-July on the Island of Museums

In November, the mayor of Berlin, Michael Müller (SPD), "Unacceptable" criticized. The head office is located in Munich, but Berlin is currently the largest site in Siemens with 11,700 employees. If the campus is built in Berlin, Siemens already has concrete ideas on the division of the site on the Nonnendammallee in Spandau: the center of innovation is expected to cover a total of 940,000 square meters. The rear derailleur (built 1926-28) and the Dynamowerk (1903-06), both monuments, are, according to the concept, incorporated as production facilities.

On the intermediate sector, about 350,000 square meters, are residential buildings, university facilities, car parks, a hotel, a school and retailers are planned. In return, Siemens expects concessions from the state of Berlin, such as extensive construction rights to the site and a "constructive manipulation" of the clbadified buildings during the renovations.

In addition, infrastructure needs to be improved. In Erlangen, Siemens already builds a campus since the end of 2016, in which will be concentrated business sites spread throughout the city. By 2020, eight new office buildings and three multi-storey car parks will be built in the south of the university city of Central Franconia.