Vastint and Hines JV buys Düsseldorf glassworks site for 1,700 homes

Vastint and Hines have acquired the Glasmacherviertel site in Düsseldorf through a joint venture that plans roughly 1,700 apartments on the former Gerresheimer Glassworks land, IREI reported. Vastint holds the majority stake in the venture.

The roughly 2.1 million-square-foot site would become a residential neighborhood under current plans, which call for 1,600 to 1,800 homes alongside retail, restaurants and social infrastructure. Gross floor area is expected to reach about 2.3 million square feet, with at least 80 percent designated for residential use; the plans also include public green space and retention of three historic buildings on the site.

The Gerresheimer glassworks closed in 2005, leaving a brownfield conversion to be built in phases, with the final design still subject to planning and approvals. That fits the build-over-buy posture this publication has argued: land and entitlement risk taken on in exchange for control of the delivery schedule.