The marshalling yard in Berlin-Schöneweide has been developed into a trading estate of superior quality in a joint project by the State of Berlin and Deutsche Bahn AG, Germany's leading rail carrier. The area is located in the immediate vicinity of Adlershof – a prospering science, business and technology hub – and will deliver plots of every size.

• The development land extends over around 40 hectares. Existing structures and infrastructure, such as the listed railway depot, streets and squares as well as public parklands account for 12 hectares thereof.
• The project will be co-financed by federal and state funds within the framework of the “communal project for improving the regional economic structure” (GRW).
• Investment volume for clearing the brownfield compound and installing the necessary infrastructure: c. 33 million euros. Out of this total, DB Immobilien, the Deutsche Bahn arm in charge of German railway tracks, signalling and stations, will shoulder 17 million euros while the State of Berlin will invest 16 million euros, with 14 million euros thereof representing GSW subsidies.
• Some plots are still available.
• Sales of the plots: To be included in the list of prospective buyers please send an email to immobilien.ost@deutschebahn.com Keyword: Adlershof-Johannisthal. As soon as the plots that have not yet been sold are tendered, we will inform all interested parties by email.
• Optimal road network access via the A113 motorway and the B96a federal route.
• Served by three stops of the rapid transit system. Inbound (downtown) and outbound (Berlin Brandenburg Airport BER) rapid transit trains frequent the site in 5 to 10 minute intervals.
• From the station “Schöneweide“ the RB24 and RB32 regional lines will take you to the eastern up-and-coming towns in the Berlin metro region, such as Oranienburg, Bernau and Eberswalde.
• Since 2021 a new tram line on Groß-Berliner Damm has opened up the area additionally.
• Options include a dedicated railway siding connecting to the DB rail freight network.
• The plots, already zoned for planning, are available to manufacturing and processing businesses and office buildings.
• Fresh impulses in the areas of science, business and technology have clearly turned Adlershof into a rapidly evolving business environment.
• The mix of commercial space, offices, restaurants, and small-scale retail businesses on the grounds as well as the integration into a vibrant, urban environment ensure a rich diversity and a high quality of stay.

The developments of the past 25 years have caused Berlin-Adlershof to prosper and gather considerable economic momentum. For many years now, signs have been pointing toward growth in every way. Among the various areas that are potentially available for expansions of the fast-growing science and technology park, the Schöneweide shunting yard, most of it now a brownfield area, represents probably the finest location for developments over the next few years. On a total area of 40 hectares, plots of various sizes and use profiles are made available mainly to manufacturing and light industrial companies but also to service providers, retailers, and restaurant operators.

Berlin Adlershof-Johannisthal offers large commercial enterprises all the advantages of an integrated inner-city location. The trading estate boasts direct access to major arteries of Berlin and even to the railway network of Deutsche Bahn. The proximity to the Adlershof city of science promises fascinating opportunities for collaboration with the high-tech industry, and with the local higher education facilities. Anyone working here in the future will benefit from the convenient accessibility of the estate via motorway, rapid transit system, tram, and regional railway system.

Development of the brownfield at the former Schöneweide shunting yard was kicked off by the revision of the land use plan. Thanks to the legally effective local development plan, the project area at Adlershof-Johannisthal is ready to be groomed for its new role as an innovation and production site. A three-kilometre segment of railway trunk line was moved north to open up the area that faces Johannisthal. Old, no longer needed and dilapidated buildings and the track beds were removed. The access roads are already completed. Species and biotope conservation measures were implemented in close coordination with Berlin-based wildlife conservation groups to relocate protected animal and plant species to resettlement areas within the Berlin city limits and in the surrounding countryside but also to the planned green area on the property. Various plots for an office development have been sold to well-known developers who will establish a small-scale structure of retail and gastronomy there in the coming years, in addition to the headquarters of Berliner Sparkasse and offices for other companies. The plots still available will gradually be put up for sale.

While being predominantly zoned as a trading estate, Adlershof-Johannisthal places a premium on a well-balanced mix of use types. On the one hand, mixing use types helps to bridge the gap to existing urban infrastructure in Adlershof while, on the other hand, investing the location with the autonomy that its day-to-day operation requires. But DB Immobilien, the real estate arm of Deutsche Bahn, also considers the approach instrumental for the implementation of its sustainability targets at Deutsche Bahn.

On the urban-planning level, blending types of use makes its easier to reconcile social, environmental and economic considerations than a purely commercial mono-structure would. The retail venues and restaurants to be grouped around the rapid transit station will ensure that amenities and convenience shopping are within walking distance, satisfying no-nonsense lunchtime needs while also offering venues for fancy business lunches. Integration into a wider-area network of foot paths and bicycle trails provides easy access to the surrounding district locations. The plans also include an adequate share of office accommodation for the administrative and planning needs of expanding businesses. A greenway traversing the estate lends itself to sports and recreation right outside the workplace at Adlershof-Johannisthal. A bridge across the railway tracks and the Adlergestell artery that is currently under construction will fully integrate the new trading estate into the urban landscape – halfway between the recreational area of Köllnische Heide on one side and the Johannisthal landscape park on the other side. Together with these fully developed green surroundings, the greenway planned on the site itself will lend itself to sports and recreation right outside the workplace for anyone who works at Adlershof-Johannisthal.

Located in the immediate vicinity, the Adlershof campus offers scientific innovation and plenty of student hangouts. The town centre of Schöneweide provides a variety of shopping opportunities with its classic high-street retail line-up. Also located very close by is Dörpfeldstrasse, a small bustling high street with owner-occupied stores, a market square, a church, and a number of restaurants.

Adlershof-Johannisthal represents a great starting position any way you look at it. There are virtually no stop lights between the trading estate and the nearby motorway slip roads “Stubenrauchstrasse” and “Adlershof,” putting the city's other boroughs and the wider region within easy reach via the southern orbital motorway. The B96a federal route, which runs the right along the estate boundary, serves as one of the city's main arteries, and provides swift access to the town centre and the north-eastern part of Pankow. Three rapid transit stations are within walking distance of the trading estate: “Berlin-Schöneweide” at the northern end, “Johannisthal” in the centre, and “Adlershof” at the south end. Inbound (downtown) and outbound (Berlin Brandenburg Airport BER) rapid transit trains frequent these stations in 5 to 10 minute intervals. Adlershof-Johannisthal actually straddles Berlin’s airport corridor. In addition the station “Schöneweide“ is a regional railway station. The RB24 and RB32 regional lines will take you to the eastern up-and-coming towns in the Berlin metro region, such as Oranienburg, Bernau and Eberswalde, and directly and without transfers to the Spreewald Biosphere Reserve.

In addition to all of these factors, the new innovation and production hub offers another fascinating option for manufacturing businesses: Upon request, Deutsche Bahn will install a dedicated railway siding from its rail freight network.

• Virtually no stop lights en route to the A113 motorway
• Drive time to downtown Berlin: 23 minutes
• Drive time to Berlin's central railway station: 30 minutes
• Drive time to the Berlin Brandenburg Airport BER: 20 minutes
• Direct access to the rapid transit station “Johannisthal”, and the rapid transit station “Adlershof” within walking distance
• Since 2021 new tram line in direct neighborhood
• Direct access to the major arteries Adlergestell (northbound) and Gross-Berliner Damm (southbound)
• Dedicated railway siding from the DB rail freight network, if needed
• Adlershof science and technology park in the immediate vicinity
• Local recreational areas Köllnische Heide (north) and Johannisthal landscape park (south) very close by
• Distance to the historic town centre of Berlin-Köpenick: just 4 km

The history of the Schöneweide shunting yard starts in 1868, the year when a railway station names “Neuer Krug” connected the rural community of Johannisthal to the Berlin-Görlitz railway line. In the second half of the nineteenth century, industrial plants in Oberschöneweide and Niederschöneweide had evolved so rapidly that the railway tracks were used by trams and heavy freight trains in addition to regular trains. By 1906, the right-of-way had been expanded into six parallel tracks. A number of industrial businesses in the greater metro area already had dedicated railway sidings by that time.

The AEG located in Oberschöneweide originally built a wooden foot bridge across the River Spree (in the same place where Stubenrauchbrücke now bridges the river) in order to get access to the long-distance train service available on the opposite bank. During the first half of the 20th century, the Schöneweide shunting yard developed into one of Berlin's main transshipment centres. Roughly one third of the city's incoming or outgoing goods was handled here. Things radically changed in the post-war era, not just because the city was divided but also because of a paradigmatic shift in the transportation of goods, with marshalling yards everywhere gradually losing in significance. The yards became a brownfield area since 1998. However, the depot built in 1904 with its roundhouse, turntable and water tower has withstood the test of time and undergone a renaissance: Back in use now, it has lived to see another day.

The Dampflokfreunde Berlin society for the conservation of steam engines and historic rolling stock is committed to the preservation of the depot – showing great zeal and gumption – and organises historic train trips from here (www.berlin-macht-dampf.com). It is this partnership that has created the landmark for the Adlershof-Johannisthal development project – the roundhouse! It symbolises the nexus between past and future in Adlershof-Johannisthal.

It does not take nature long to reclaim brownfield areas, however large they may be. In order to live up to its responsibility for biodiversity conservation, and to the Sustainabilty targets at Deutsche Bahn, DB Immobilien has implemented an ambitious resettlement program, a.o. for sand lizards, tawny pipits, woodlarks and northern wheatears. In several locations in Berlin and Brandenburg, resident plants and wildlife from the former marshalling yard have found a new home.

Part of the reptiles remains in the planned green areas and in the adjacent railway rights-of-way. In addition, pasture land at the Herzberge landscape park (in Berlin-Lichtenberg) and at Zingergrabenniederung (Berlin-Pankow) was upgraded into a lizard habitat. The animals were gradually resettled here in 2016 to 2022. The extensive use of the land as pasture for grazing sheep, cattle resp. horses will take its status as lizard habitat into account lest the reptiles be put in harm's way by the animal husbandry.

To give breeding birds a new home, a section of the wildlife reserve Glauer Tal in the Nuthe-Nieplitz nature park (County of Teltow-Fläming) was prepared as breeding ground. The sandy soil at these sites is particularly low in nutrients, creating favourable conditions for resettling the animals here. The area's extensive use as pasture land for wild animals will be permanent. This will ensure a low-growth and patchy vegetation. Mitigation measures will be undertaken for the biotope in addition to extensive biodiversity measures.

In addition to extensive species protection measures, compensation measures for biotopes are also being implemented.

In 2013, bulwiengesa, a consultancy firm specialising in real estate markets, compiled two potential analyses on local competition and the future long-term demand for land in Adlershof-Johannisthal on behalf of DB Immobilien, the real estate arm of Deutsche Bahn. For the sake of comparison, bulwiengesa included a total of eight relevant business and industry locations in Berlin in its potential analyses. The result of the two studies was that Adlershof-Johannisthal will do very well in terms of both demand and location competition. From the general target groups for Adlershof-Johannisthal - classic trade, office and technology - certain sectors can be identified on the basis of the specific characteristics of the project location that can particularly benefit from a settlement in Adlershof-Johannisthal. For example: engineering industry, precision mechanics and microelectronics, research and development companies, IT, hardware and software companies, biotechnology, climate and environmental technology.

After more than 10 years, about 50 % of the land on the 40 hectares site has been sold.

There have been two braking factors that were not foreseeable in 2013. Firstly, the extremely strong increase in land prices in Germany and Berlin during the low-interest phase from 2009 to 2022, and secondly, the slow start of the Berlin Brandenburg Airport BER.

After the steep rise in interest rates since 2022, the German real estate market will probably not level off again until 2024. And then the airport will also be able to develop its full economic appeal.

This being said, the potential analyses from 2013 were right: No other large project area in Berlin has developed as quickly as the area at the rapid transit station “Johannisthal”. And its function as an overflow valve for the neighbouring science city Adlershof has also been confirmed. Now all that is missing is a technological impulse. Battery, green hydrogen or cyber security production? Just a few steps and Adlershof-Johannisthal will be "fully booked".