Project developer and investor Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW) has today announced the first four major strategic partners for Westfield Hamburg- Überseequartier, the urban mixed-use district at the river Elbe in Hamburg’s HafenCity. In a key milestone for the project, URW has signed long-term agreements with: LEGOLAND® Discovery Centre, Kinopolis, REWE and BUDNI.
Two unique concepts in the leisure and entertainment offer of the urban flagship destination have been confirmed. The international children’s and family attraction LEGOLAND® Discovery Centre, part of Merlin Entertainments, is opening its first location in Hamburg at Westfield Hamburg-Überseequartier. The ultimate indoor LEGO® playground is set across 3,400 square metres of LEGO themed play and will be one of the largest LEGOLAND® Discovery Centres in Europe. With fun for all the family, it represents one of the core attractions for the district.
Furthermore, Kinopolis, one of Germany’s best-known and most successful cinema operators, will also open its first branch in Hamburg which will be the city’s largest cinema. The premium multiplex comprises ten cinema halls with a total of over 2,300 seats. With its state-of-the-art technology and exceptional interior design by renowned architectural office Chapman Taylor, it will set new benchmarks within the cinema industry. In addition to the premiere hall with around 500 seats, the new cinema will be home to Hamburg’s first ever Dolby Cinema with outstanding design features, picture and sound quality.
Two key anchor tenants have also signed their contracts for the convenience and local supply retail areas over two and a half years in advance of the opening. Germany’s second-largest food retailer REWE is installing a flagship branch with an overall concept individually adapted to the Westfield Hamburg-Überseequartier location on a sales area of around 3,000 square metres.
Additionally, the drugstore chain BUDNI, market leader in the Hamburg metropolitan region, is planning a flagship store of approx. 800 square meters in Überseequartier. BUDNI will establish an innovative sales concept designed specifically for the location, which will emphasise the experiential character of shopping and at the same time illustrate the local tradition of the Hamburg-based company in the store design and structure.
Completion of the mixed-use district Westfield Hamburg-Überseequartier in the heart of HafenCity is scheduled for fall 2023.
”These strategic partnerships which launch our leasing programme for Westfield Hamburg-Überseequartier send out an important signal within the current market as the Westfield brand continues to attract world class partners, investing for the long term. Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield is firmly convinced of the future of inner cities, centers and quarters in which major social trends such as extraordinary entertainment, eventful gastronomy, and innovative retail play a key role. At Westfield Hamburg-Überseequartier, we will offer a mix of international, national and local brands that is unique in Europe. Embedded in the vibrant mixed-use district, this will sustainably strengthen the attractiveness of HafenCity, the city of Hamburg and the metropolitan region. We are therefore very pleased about the first strategic partners LEGOLAND Discovery Centre, Kinopolis, REWE and BUDNI, all of whom will implement future and experience-oriented concepts. They are a perfect fit for our leasing strategy, in which we combine international ambition with local tradition,” explains Andreas Hohlmann, Managing Director at Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield in Germany.
“This first major step in our leasing activities for the retail and leisure offer of Westfield Hamburg-Überseequartier is an important signal for the project, for the city and for the industry. After all, the serious challenges and deprivations we have experienced over the past year, it is clear that people miss places where they can enjoy their free time, meet other people, be inspired and experience extraordinary things. We are creating a place that reinvents being together, through our tenant and product mix, concepts developed specifically for the project with our partners, and the diverse mixed-use setup. The strategy for the quarter that we had long before the pandemic is ultimately only confirmed by the experiences and trends of recent months. We are creating a highly attractive urban destination with great appeal that stands for the future of inner-city spaces, for the future of the industry,” adds Constantin Wiesmann, Director of Leasing Germany at Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield.
LEGOLAND® Discovery Centre (LDC): cross-regional attraction offering fun for all the family
Centrally located in the quarter and in close proximity to the subway station, LEGOLAND® Discovery Centre opens its third indoor children’s and family attraction in Germany after Berlin and Oberhausen. The site at Westfield Hamburg-Überseequartier covers an area of around 3,400 square meters and will contain millions of LEGO bricks. The attraction will feature creative spaces with different themes, including interactive zones, rides and build challenges. LEGOLAND® Discovery Centre will play a prominent role in the quarter’s leisure and entertainment segment. It will be a major attraction for Hamburg residents and visitors from the surrounding area as well as national and international tourists.
“As one of the world leaders in location-based entertainment, we are thrilled to be bringing the first LEGOLAND® Discovery Centre to Hamburg. We have already had great success with LEGOLAND® Discovery Centre in Berlin and Oberhausen and look forward to bringing the sights, sounds and experiences that family audiences know and love to Westfield Hamburg-Überseequartier. Überseequartier, with its mixed-use profile, its unrivalled position between the river Elbe and the wider inner city, and its optimal infrastructure will be a great location for us,” said Meike Lippert, Senior Divisional Director Midway Europe and Global New Openings, Merlin Entertainments, the operator of LEGOLAND® Discovery Centres.
Kinopolis: first Kinopolis and first Dolby Cinema in northern Germany
From 2023, Westfield Hamburg-Überseequartier will contain a premium multiplex cinema from Kinopolis with ten screens and over 2,300 seats. The cinema is characterized by its spacious and exciting interior design, which will delight moviegoers even before the film with numerous lounge areas. The architectural highlight in Chapman Taylor’s design is the ceiling structure in the cinema’s atrium. As the centerpiece, an individually designed premiere hall with almost 500 seats awaits its visitors. In addition, the new cinema will feature Hamburg’s first Dolby Cinema with a unique standard in terms of design, picture and sound quality.
“We are extremely pleased to be able to partner with Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield on our concept and can hardly wait to inaugurate our new location in the heart of Hamburg. We are firmly convinced that high-quality cinema experiences will continue to have a firm place in the changing leisure, entertainment and media landscape and will lose none of their fascination in the future. The combination of design, service and state-of-the-art technology will delight all movie lovers and put an exclamation mark on the cinema world in Germany,” says Dr. Gregory Theile, Managing Director of Kinopolis.
REWE: Individual location concept for all customers – from local residents to tourists
On a sales area of around 3,000 square metres, REWE is realising a high-quality supermarket concept which will be customized to the location. In addition to the classic supermarket assortment the concept will focus on fresh and locality sourced products as well as delicacies: From coffee – freshly roasted on site – and a balanced delicacies range to an extensive fish and meat offer. Rewe will take on the role of an important local supplier for the district and the wider HafenCity area, offering residents, visitors and employees a wide selection of products and services.
“In this special location at Westfield Hamburg-Überseequartier, we are combining the latest REWE supermarket concept with customized, location-specific elements. We are aiming for a more engaging shopping experience which invites customers to stay, stroll and give new things a trial. With an experience-oriented approach, in which we are focussing on demonstrating fresh food preparation at individual workpoints and will be offering tastings, we will fit perfectly into the overall structure of Überseequartier as the future focal point of HafenCity. In addition, residents are invited to enjoy our convenient and fast pick-up service. With adding this new branch to our portfolio, we are strengthening our presence in Northern Germany and setting new standards for Hamburg food retailing”, emphasises Jochen Vogel, Managing Director of REWE Markt GmbH, Northern Branch.”
BUDNI: Traditional Hamburg drugstore with specially tailored concept
BUDNIkowsky is also planning a special flagship store for the company in Westfield Hamburg-Überseequartier: on a modern sales area of around 800 square meters, the drugstore chain is realizing an innovative sales concept that reflects the entire range of brands and will establish new standards in daily-needs retail. In northern Germany, BUDNI already has 180 stores from Lüneburg to Lübeck and Sylt and is the drugstore chain with the strongest presence in the Hamburg metropolitan region.
“We are looking forward to many new encounters and lively exchanges with customers in Überseequartier, the vibrant center of HafenCity that is currently being built. It’s exciting to be the first to be involved when a new milestone is created in Hamburg, and I’m sure that this new area will develop a radiance that will also bring new momentum and new footfall to the traditional Hamburg city center. With our product range, which is individually tailored to the location, and the service orientation, friendliness and approachability of our staff, we will be able to offer customers living here and visitors an innovative and extraordinary range of products and services. With Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, we have a partner who is open to innovative approaches – we would like to thank them for their trust and are already very much looking forward to the opening in the fall of 2023,” explains Christoph Wöhlke, Managing Director of BUDNI.
Mixed-use environment: in good company
A number of other major partnerships for Westfield Hamburg-Überseequartier, have already been entered into in recent years. In the tourism segment, Europe’s largest travel and lifestyle group Accor and the real estate company B&L Group are opening three hotels with a total of around 830 rooms under the Accor brands Pullman, Novotel and ibis Styles. The hotels are located in direct connection to the world’s first inner-city integrated cruise terminal. DC Developments is responsible for the development, realization and marketing of around 400 of the 650 planned apartments. CBRE and Grossmann & Berger account for the successful leasing of the 48,000 square meters of office space, which is designed for 4,000 workplaces.
“Brick-and-mortar retail, leisure facilities and gastronomy have been facing very great challenges for over a year now, and there are also justified concerns about the future of city centers in many places. Nevertheless, there are concepts for the future that show how urban spaces can remain attractive in the long term through an intelligent mix of uses and offerings that focuses on the experience factor and quality of stay. We are firmly convinced that Westfield Hamburg-Überseequartier proves this and is a prime example of urban development fit for the future. It will further enhance the local, national and international appeal of the inner city, but also of Hamburg as a whole,” says Dirk Hünerbein, Director of Development Germany at Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield.
Westfield Hamburg-Überseequartier: modern urbanity for Hamburg
In Westfield Hamburg-Überseequartier, a total of 14 individual buildings are being constructed, which, with their outstanding architecture and unique mix of uses, will form a new lively destination in Hamburg. Retail, the cinema, further entertainment concepts and more than 40 gastronomy units will be fine-tuned with offices, the three hotels, a cruise terminal and a total of 650 apartments. The mixed-use district consists of a total area of 419,000 square metres and will be realised by Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield with an investment of over one billion euros by autumn 2023.
