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Innovationspark Mainz GmbH & Co. KG starts work on the first laboratory and office building

With a double pioneering achievement, Innovationspark Mainz GmbH & Co. KG has given the go-ahead for the construction of the new biotech and life sciences campus in Mainz. ‘Besides being the first building at this forward-looking location, LAB 1 will also set new standards with its particularly sustainable design,’ stresses Tina Badrot, Managing Director of J. Molitor Immobilien GmbH, which has got together with G.L. Kayser Immobilien GmbH and IGM Immobilien Gesellschaft Mainz mbh to form Innovationspark Mainz GmbH & Co. KG. The shared aim is to quickly create an attractive place for research institutes and innovation-driven companies in the fields of biotechnology and life sciences in the form of the ‘Innovationlabz’ laboratory and office space.

The significance of the green light for this new future site was demonstrated at the ground-breaking ceremony, which was attended by Minister President Malu Dreyer, Minister of Economic Affairs Daniela Schmitt and Minister of Science Clemens Hoch, alongside High Mayor Nino Haase and many members of Mainz City Council with Mayor Günter Beck, Head of the Building Department Marianne Grosse and Head of the Department of Economic Affairs Manuela Matz.

The construction of LAB 1, the first building on the future biotech and life sciences site in Mainz, is set to herald a new era for Mainz as a technology location. Not far from Johannes Gutenberg University and Mainz University of Applied Sciences, on Saarstraße, the gateway to the city centre, the project developers are starting work on one of the largest future projects in the land.

Minister President Malu Dreyer: ‘A campus is set to be built here in Mainz that will enable biotechnology and the life sciences to take a big leap forward in terms of their innovation potential. LAB 1 represents the first important step in this process. New laboratories and meeting places are being created here, providing fertile soil for new collaborations. Short distances, cooperation between bright minds and an embraced solidarity between the science community and business world – all of this is made possible here in close proximity to the universities, the university hospital and non-university research institutes. We want to turn Rhineland-Palatinate into a leading biotechnology location and put it on the international map in the long term.’ On a trip to Scotland in April, she was given the chance to see what such a biotech campus might look like: in Edinburgh, something similar has already been built in the form of the BioQuarter, which can serve as a model for Rhineland-Palatinate, added Minister-President Malu Dreyer.

Nino Haase, High Mayor of Mainz, emphasised: ‘With today’s ground-breaking ceremony for the first laboratory and office building on this life sciences and biotechnology campus in Mainz, we are not only celebrating the fact that new companies are coming to our city. We are also celebrating the growth and importance of Mainz as a science and research location in general and as a life sciences and biotechnology location in particular. The new site being developed by J. Molitor Immobilien GmbH, G.L. Kayser Immobilien GmbH and IGM Immobilien Gesellschaft Mainz mbh is sending out a strong signal as our campus begins to take shape and is also focusing on the future, just as our city is also explicitly setting the course for the future. I wish the builders every success and all the best for the impending construction phase.’

The first anchor tenant for the 3,000 m² LAB 1 laboratory and office building designed by Ries+Ries Architekten Ingenieure is already known: it is the Norwegian medical device company Lifecare AS from Bergen, having signed the contract with Innovationspark Mainz GmbH & Co. KG just last week. ‘We are already holding final talks with other companies and research institutes who are looking to move here,’ says Edmund Schmitz, Managing Director of G.L. Kayser Immobilien GmbH. The next planning application for the LAB 2 laboratory and office building, which is set to offer between 6,000 and 8,000 m² of space, is already being prepared.

Pioneering work with sustainable building technology

‘Besides wishing to invest in a promising biotechnology and life sciences location, we also want to take a forward-looking approach to the subject of sustainability,’ Edmund Schmitz continues. Molitor Managing Director Tim Gemünden explained how sustainable the first building will be: ‘We are building a complex laboratory and office building with a significantly improved carbon footprint. For one thing, we have a timber stud façade with wood fibre insulation made from renewable raw materials. The façade will be designed in such a way that we can generate electricity using a photovoltaic façade system on as many surfaces as possible around the building. This has environmental advantages, not least for a laboratory building with particularly high electricity demands,’ says Gemünden, adding: ‘The ceilings are made from recycled concrete and the energy will be supplied in an environmentally friendly manner by means of geothermal power and low-temperature radiant heating with passive cooling, thereby exceeding statutory energy efficiency requirements.’ In addition, the site will feature a modular solar carport, whose self-generated electricity can be used both to charge electric vehicles and to supply the building with power.

The area being developed by Innovationspark Mainz GmbH & Co. KG is part of a larger site where new start-ups, companies and research institutions from the life sciences and biotechnology sectors can base themselves. In terms of the overall development, the investors highlight the good cooperation with the state, the city and the companies close to the city, which also own parts of the site.

‘Today’s groundbreaking ceremony is a historic moment for us as regional investors. At the same time, it represents a special commitment to the new biotech and life sciences site,’ explains Edmund Schmitz, Managing Director of G.L. Kayser Immobilien GmbH, adding: ‘Together with the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, the city of Mainz and, above all, with the future users, we look forward to establishing a pioneering location for biotechnology and life sciences here in the coming years.’

Further information

www.innovationlabz.de

The ink has dried: by signing up as the first tenant at the new biotechnology and life sciences hub, Norwegian medical device company Lifecare is setting a historic milestone in the development of this new science and business park in the state capital of Rhineland-Palatinate. The project developers at J. Molitor Immobilien GmbH, G.L. Kayser Immobilien GmbH and IGM Immobilien Gesellschaft Mainz mbh welcomed Lifecare’s senior executives, who had travelled from Norway to sign the contract in the place where the company will conduct its future business activities: on the building site for the first laboratory and office building, LAB 1.

LAB 1 is being built at the entrance to Mainz, in the immediate vicinity of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz and Mainz University of Applied Sciences. Lifecare will lease around 1,000 square metres on the ground floor of the building. The company from Bergen specialises in implantable microsensors using nanotechnology – e.g. for measuring blood sugar. Lifecare plans to move into the ground floor of LAB 1 in summer 2025, meaning that a third of the space in the first building, LAB 1, has already been reserved.

On the construction site for the LU: complex, the archaeologists are now holding the reins / First outstanding finds / Container tempts visitors to ‘look in, look around, look out’.

‘It is an exciting site where we can expect to find spectacular things,’ says Stephanie Metz, the new head of the Mainz branch of the GDKE’s State Archaeology Directorate, summing it all up. Since the beginning of the year, various members of its staff have been digging slowly and ever deeper into the past on the corner of Gutenbergplatz/Fuststraße/Bischofsplatz, with the excavation and demolition work carried out by the Gemünden construction company having prepared the historically interesting terrain for the archaeologists. Over the coming weeks and months, the focus will initially be on the archaeologists, who will survey the area for ‘Mainz treasures’. The new LU: complex is then set to be built here and in a further construction phase on Ludwigsstraße – with a vibrant mix of retail stores, eateries and cultural spaces, plus homes, offices and a hotel.

The proximity to the old St John’s Cathedral, but also finds from the recent past in the wider area, attest to the presence of Roman buildings around Ludwigsstraße. ‘From an archaeological perspective, we are currently moving between the modern period and the Frankish era on the construction site and are slowly working our way towards the Romans,’ says Metz. One of the first notable finds was a jug from the late modern period. Considerably more spectacular was a papal bull presumed to date from the Middle Ages: ‘This is a truly outstanding find,’ adds Stephanie Metz, ‘about which we are unable to say very much at the moment because the object is in a rather poor condition and must firstly be restored. I haven’t even been able to read it myself yet.’

The project developers from J. Molitor Immobilien GmbH, Sparkasse Rhein-Nahe and the Mainz Cathedral Chapter are also eagerly awaiting further excavations. Fully in keeping with the spirit of the future LU: leisure quarter, the public should also be able to get involved in the current excavations. ‘It therefore gives us immense pleasure to present our LU: pop-up container today for people who cannot resist the LU:RE of old and new treasures in Mainz city centre,’ says Molitor Managing Director Tina Badrot. Volker Schick, Head of Real Estate Projects at Sparkasse Rhein-Nahe, and Volkmar Hommel, speaking on behalf of the Mainz Cathedral Chapter, underline: ‘From an elevated position and with the benefit of a panoramic window, visitors have a wonderful view of the excavations.’

High Mayor Nino Haase is delighted that people are being given new access to Mainz’s Roman heritage: ‘The site close to the old St John’s Cathedral in the heart of our city is of particular archaeological significance, so it pleases me all the more that the people of Mainz can now actively get involved in the excavations, enabling us to link our city’s past with the future in a wonderful way. Mainz must be able to see and experience its treasures.’

Marianne Grosse, Head of the Building and Culture Department, adds: ‘We are delving into Mainz’s past right here in the heart of the city and are looking forward to taking the public with us on this journey through time.’ The container can be accessed from Bischofsplatz via a staircase. Yet it is also worth taking a look around the container: inside, visitors are invited to take a look at a wide range of new and old treasures found in Mainz city centre. Among other things, there are display cases featuring ‘treasure hunter’ tools and current gems from the lulu. The latest finds may also be exhibited here from time to time. In addition, a QR code in the container provides the option of viewing background information about the excavations and the work of the archaeologists on a smartphone. To kick things off, a video featuring Stephanie Metz and her team was specially filmed, in which she provides initial insights into her work and the construction site from an archaeological perspective. Visitors can place their own personal treasures from Mainz city centre on a board using a ‘treasure map’. A few weeks back, archaeological hoarding banners were erected around the construction site in conjunction with the GDKE, documenting significant Roman finds from Mainz in a light-hearted manner.

Further information

‘The LU:RE of Mainz treasures’ video: Those interested in the project will find a video featuring additional information about the work of the archaeologists on Fuststraße at www.lu-erleben.de

A large key made of pretzel dough symbolises the next important step towards the new health department building: Tina Badrot, F. Albrecht Graf von Pfeil and Christian Schupp (J. Molitor Immobilien GmbH) along with Ralf Sadowski and Franz von Ditfurth (Mainzer Aufbaugesellschaft mbH) handed over the key for the new building to District Administrator Dorothea Schäfer on behalf of the Kisselberg joint venture project company, which means that the district of Mainz-Bingen is now officially the master of the house at Isaac-Fulda-Allee 2d in Mainz. The building cost around 20 million euros – including taxes and additional expenses. The state is on board with funding of 2.1 million euros.

‘This brings us close to the end of a long journey,’ explains Schäfer. She reminds us of the story: before the district was able to buy the building in the immediate vicinity of the Europakreisel roundabout at the end of last year, several years had been spent searching for a new property and many options were examined. For one thing, the old building on Große Langgasse in Mainz is no longer modern enough. Plus it had been getting increasingly cramped. ‘That’s all behind us now. The team at the public health department can now enjoy state-of-the-art offices, consulting rooms and laboratories.’

This is a view echoed by the councillor responsible for the health department, Erwin Malkmus: ‘The new building fully meets the requirements of a modern healthcare service, which we offer both for the Mainz–Bingen district and for the city of Mainz.’ District councillor Steffen Wolf, responsible for building management, added: ‘This means that we now have a state-of-the-art workplace that is ideally equipped in terms of ambient conditions. Accordingly, we have positioned ourselves for the challenges that lie ahead.’

‘A new era is now dawning for the health department following the handover of the key, and we wish to congratulate it on this,’ adds Ralf Sadowski, Managing Director of Mainzer Aufbaugesellschaft. ‘We are delighted that we were able to offer the district of Mainz-Bingen this attractive location, which will see huge development in the coming years – embedded between industry, service providers, the science community and research in the field of health.’

‘The public health department is paving the way for the new life sciences location at the entrance to the city of Mainz. Just a pedestrian bridge away, Molitor is working with partners to develop Mainz Innovation Park with laboratory and office buildings,’ says Tina Badrot, Managing Director of J. Molitor Immobilien GmbH, adding: ‘We would like to thank the district and our partner Mainzer Aufbaugesellschaft for their quick, goal-driven and professional cooperation at the new health department.’

The fixtures and fittings are already in place, with the district’s IT department currently still busy with the cabling. More than 100 employees from Langgasse in Mainz and Kreuzhof in Nieder-Olm are scheduled to move to the new site after Easter, which will take a few days. The Kisselberg location, which boasts outstanding transport connections by both bus and tram, as well as by motorway and Saarstrasse, will then go into operation. There are also 40 parking spaces available.