11.10.2023

REALOGIS advises on sale of Hornschuch site to technology company Karl Dungs in Stuttgart metropolitan region

• Site to be completely renovated and reorganised: timeline up to 2035
• Karl Dungs gains planning security for a location
• Development of hydrogen solutions and merging of logistics

Stuttgart / Urbach, 11 October 2023 – Realogis, Germany’s leading consultancy for industrial, logistics and commercial properties, has successfully supported and advised Arthur ESCHENBACH-GmbH (Stuttgart) on the sale of the historic Hornschuch site in Urbach. The buyer is Karl Dungs GmbH & Co. KG, a local technology company specialising in system solutions for the heating and process heat industry and for hydrogen innovations.

At the end of September 2023, the parties signed the purchase agreement. Karl Dungs GmbH & Co. KG aims to reorganise parts of the property, which comprises almost 52,000 m² of land and more than 21,000 m² of building space, and move other company units from the region to Konrad-Hornschuch-Strasse 67 in Urbach in the future. A timeline up to 2035 is planned for renovation and development.

With the purchase of the site, things are coming full circle. Until the late 1980s, the 5.2-hectare property to the east of Stuttgart was used by the textile producer Hornschuch, the biggest and best-known employer in Urbach. After the plant closed, it became a business park whose buildings and open areas were let to companies large and small from the municipality and its immediate surroundings. With the return of today’s biggest employer in Urbach, Karl Dungs GmbH & Co. KG, to this location, fresh life and future innovation will be returning here in the next decade.

Stephanie Eschenbach von der Arthur Eschenbach GmbH betont: „Wir freuen uns, dass sich die Fa. Karl Dungs GmbH & Co. KG neben nationalen wie internationalen Interessenten durchsetzen konnte und diese hochwertige Immobilie erworben hat. Das Konzept für eine Neuentwicklung dieses Standorts hat auch uns überzeugt.“

Stephanie Eschenbach from Arthur Eschenbach GmbH emphasises: “We are delighted that Karl Dungs GmbH & Co. KG was able to win out over other national and international prospective buyers and has acquired this high-quality property. Its concept for redeveloping this location impressed us, too.”

“We are very happy to have found this solution here in Urbach for our group,” says Managing Partner Karl Dungs. For years, the company had been looking for a future-proof expansion opportunity in order to bring together its operations spread across different locations in Urbach and the surrounding area. The company had also repeatedly been offered locations outside Urbach.

“We are aware of our special responsibility and tradition. Climate neutrality and environmental protection are likewise important to us. Using an existing industrial property is more sustainable than building a new one.” The company intends to plan and develop the location climate-neutrally. Some parts of the buildings will be renovated and upgraded, while others will be demolished and rebuilt, such as a logistics hall where all five DUNGS logistics locations are to be combined. Karl Dungs: “The redevelopment will take a little time; the site is large, and we don’t want to rush anything. It is important to us that we have gained planning security and know that our future lies here in Urbach.” The existing leases for the fourteen tenants will be continued.

“With Arthur ESCHENBACH-GmbH as the seller and Karl Dungs GmbH & Co. KG as the buyer, the right partners have come together,” says Joel Adam, Managing Director of Realogis Immobilien Stuttgart GmbH. “The sale means that the historic existing site will be developed in the future into a climate-neutral commercial site combining production and logistics again.” Back