Verdion Acquires Former Bekaert Steel Rope Factory in Gelsenkirchen for €68 Million Urban Logistics Hub
Verdion has acquired a 6.67-hectare former steel rope factory site in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, from Bekaert, a global steel wire transformation company, for €68 million, the firm announced Sept. 1. JLL brokered the transaction. Verdion plans to develop the site into a LiteHub urban logistics park totaling 37,675 square meters, targeting e-commerce, light manufacturing and last-mile distribution occupiers in Germany's Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.
Site and Planned Development
The former Bekaert production site sits on the northern outskirts of Gelsenkirchen, adjacent to the A42 motorway connecting Duisburg and Dortmund. Duisburg Inland Port and central Essen are each reachable in under 30 minutes, giving the location direct access to one of Europe's most densely populated consumer and industrial corridors.
Verdion will develop the site speculatively into two self-contained blocks subdivided into up to 10 flexible units. Individual unit sizes will range from 2,945 square meters to 20,098 square meters, with the full scheme targeting EG40 energy performance and DGNB Gold certification.
Verdion will advance planning and building permitting for the project before commencing construction.
Moritz Heißenberg, Executive Director–Head of Germany at Verdion, said: "This acquisition further strengthens our development pipeline in Germany, securing a strategically located site in the heart of one of Europe's largest industrial and consumer markets. With excellent connectivity and access to a substantial customer base, we expect strong occupier demand from e-commerce, light manufacturing and last-mile distribution businesses, continuing our strategy of delivering flexible, modern space in prime urban locations with constrained supply."
Oliver Kemper, Head of Investment–Germany at Verdion, said: "This acquisition is a strong fit with our investment strategy for VELF 2. We remain disciplined in targeting brownfield opportunities in established urban markets where we see clear potential to create value through redevelopment. Gelsenkirchen combines strong underlying demand fundamentals with the opportunity to transform an underutilised industrial site into modern, flexible logistics space."
VELF 2 Fund and German Pipeline
The Gelsenkirchen deal is the third German acquisition Verdion has completed for its Verdion European Logistics Fund 2 (VELF 2) in the past six months. VELF 2 closed at the end of 2024 having raised more than €300 million of equity. The fund targets value-add opportunities through brownfield redevelopment and speculative development across Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden.
In February 2026, Verdion secured a former production site in northern Cologne for a €95 million urban logistics hub that will incorporate both LiteHub and CoreHub facilities. In June 2026, the firm acquired a brownfield site near Munich for a €96 million LiteHub development totaling 27,649 square meters across 12 units, identified as located in the municipality of Poing approximately 20 kilometers east of Munich's city center near the A99 and A94 motorways.
Verdion's German VELF 2 activity also includes a June 2025 acquisition of a brownfield site at Hohlohstraße 13 in Rastatt, on the German-French border. That scheme, branded Verdion CoreHub Rastatt, will deliver 19,573 square meters of Grade A logistics space across two warehouse units, with a value potential of €45 million and a targeted completion in July 2027.
Beyond Germany, VELF 2 includes a €69 million urban logistics facility in Greater Copenhagen's Brøndby submarket, pre-let to Danish online grocer nemlig, and a site in southwest Stockholm's logistics corridor currently under construction.
Brownfield Strategy and Market Context
The Gelsenkirchen acquisition follows a consistent pattern across Verdion's VELF 2 portfolio: acquiring underutilized industrial brownfield sites in established urban markets and repositioning them as modern, flexible logistics space. The Rhine-Ruhr region presents limited availability of new-build logistics product in urban locations, a dynamic Verdion cites as central to its site-selection rationale.
The speculative nature of the Gelsenkirchen development reflects the firm's confidence in occupier absorption in the submarket. Targeted tenants include businesses in e-commerce fulfillment, light manufacturing and last-mile delivery.
With the Gelsenkirchen closing, Verdion holds at least four committed development sites in Germany under VELF 2, concentrated in Rhine-Ruhr, the Rhine corridor near Cologne, the Munich metropolitan area and the Upper Rhine Valley near Rastatt.
Transaction Details
JLL brokered the sale of the former Bekaert site to Verdion. The €68 million figure represents the announced investment volume for the Gelsenkirchen LiteHub development.
Sources:
Verdion – Verdion acquires Rhine-Ruhr site for €68 million urban logistics hub