Planned urban development

For more than 125 years, the steam boiler manufacturer Steinmüller had been giving distinction to the City of Gummersbach. But when the company was closed in 1999, the city lost not only an important enterprise but also its center. The old Steinmüller lot has been a concern for Gummersbach for more than ten years now. After winning a Europe-wide tender, HBB was now commissioned with building a shopping mall on one part of that area, measuring 30,000 square meters in size.

The shopping mall will be connected to the downtown pedestrian zone of Gummersbach via Kampstraße and an adjacent railway underpass leading to Steinmüllerallee. In order to pay tribute to the distinctive history of the old steam boiler factory, the new building will include façades made of clinker bricks and corten steel.

Expansion of downtown offers

The mall will have 15,000 square meters of retail space for fashion stores, electrical appliances stores, food and drugstores, as well as additional service providers and restaurants. About 400 to 500 new jobs are expected to be created here – a welcome side effect! HBB will not only be building the necessary 600 parking spaces for customers and visitors, but also an additional 900 parking spaces that will be available, among other things, for visitors to the close-by business park and a multi-function hall that is also planned to be built on the Steinmüller lot.

The mall is expected to be completed in 2014. The investment volume is about EUR 7- to 80 million, incl. leasehold improvements.

This project will not only promote the important urban development on the Steinmüller lot that totals 20 ha in size, but the shopping mall will also add to this city’s appeal as a retail location and middle-order center.