Real estate development firm Goodman is to develop a data center in Frankfurt, Germany, on the site of a former newspaper printing plant.
The company this week announced that it has recently purchased the 4.5-hectare brownfield plot in Neu-Isenburg, south of Frankfurt, and plans to develop it into a 100MVA powered shell facility, known as Goodman FRA II.
Christof Prange, head of Germany at Goodman, said: “Goodman’s focus on strategic infill locations means that we have sites that are attractive for a wide range of uses including data centers. Many of our sites are located close to consumers and have access to power – important ingredients in being able to serve the data needs of the growing digital economy. Moving into data center development in Germany was a natural evolution for us to complement our wider portfolio of logistics facilities, light industrial parks, and multi-level developments.”
According to Goodman’s website, the 45,000 sqm (484,375sq ft) facility – built on the former printing plant of the German newspaper Frankfurter Rundschau – will be available from the end of December 2023.
The now-demolished print factory closed around 2013 as the paper faced financial troubles. Before Goodman, the site changed hands a number of times with various proposals including a hotel put forward but never realized.
"Goodman’s FRA II data center will transform a vacant brownfield site into an essential piece of infrastructure serving millions of end users, supporting the continued growth of Frankfurt’s economy," said Matthieu Wieczorek, data Center development Lead at Goodman.
Goodman’s data center portfolio currently spans Tokyo, Sydney, and Hong Kong. Wieczorek added the company has plans to expand into other markets “as opportunities arise.”
Goodman builds business parks, industrial and warehouse/logistics space, and data centers. Google bought space in Goodman’s Tokyo Business Park in 2019. The company is working with STT GDC to build two data centers in Tokyo.
In September 2022, Goodman opened the Tsuen Wan West precinct in Hong Kong; the new data center development comprises four buildings totaling 1.6 million sq ft (148,640 sqm) of space and will reportedly offer up to 400MW.
Goodman is one of a number of logistics & warehouse industrial real estate firms looking to move into or expand their existing presence in the data center space. The likes of Prologis, Segro, GLP, ESR, P3, and others are also looking to develop facilities in the US, Europe, and Asia Pacific.
Goodman was previously listed by French data center builder and Cap Ingelec subsidiary Cap DC as a ‘key partner; DCD understands the two companies have partnered in markets such as Milan and Madrid.