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June 2013


Big bang for new jobs: Blast on the Masterplan area Am Zunderbaum near Homburg

On June 27 at 13:15 h, the demolition expert authorized by gwSaar caused, as professionally as ever, a big bang with small doses of explosives at the outskirts of the city of Homburg. In doing so, the demolition work on the Masterplan area Am Zunderbaum near Homburg/Kirkel reached a special high point. State-owned gwSaar Saarland Economic Promotion Corporation had decided to have demolished two buildings belonging to the former depot of the Bundeswehr: One silo building with a volume of 14,700 m3 , which would be roughly the mass of 20 single family houses. The other, more striking object to be demolished, was the chimney near the heat supply plant.

Revitalisation instead of unneccessary use of land

The background to this is the redesignation of the former Bundeswehr depot area Am Zunderbaum between Homburg and motorway BAB 6 as an industrial park. In April, gwSaar had launched the demolition work to prepare and newly develop the site for future investors. In total, conversion costs amount to some23 million euros. It is expected that the first companies can build their new new plants there from the middle of 2014. `With our investments, we are setting the scene for a new and competitive industrial area – a prerequisite for the establishment of new companies and the creation of jobs` , says Thomas Schuck, Managing Director of gwSaar.

Careful conversion

Due to the architecture of the silo and chimney, state-owned gwSaar had decided in favor of a quick and easy demolition of the buildings. Of course, this was done under the highest safety precautions. The radius of the security area was 300 meters. Both buildings had in advance been freed from asbestos and other hazardous substances so that the usual sorting of building materials can begin after blasting. Later on, the experts on site will reuse the demolition materials for the brownfield redevelopment as far as allowed and technically suitable in a water protection area. The same method is used by gwSaar and LEG Service with regard to the remaining demolition waste. In doing so, both SHS subsidiaries use eco-friendly procedures for the redevelopment of the area. Costs of the demolition will be 2.5 million euros.

Much space

The Masterplan area Am Zunderbaum is an attractive location with excellent transportation links. gwSaar offers continuous areas up to a size of 10 ha. If requested, there is also the possibility of parcelling the land, independent from the present situation and tailored entirely to investors´ needs. Around one fourth of the area is already occupied. Five companies, all of them former tenants on the estate, have already acquired their company sites including already existing buildings and taken residence there again. This , however, only applies to the southern part of the area. As above companies had already been established in Homburg, gwSaar has positively supported their further development.

Easy access

The Masterplan area GI Am Zunderbaum is located directly at the B423. And Homburg is not only a transportation hub on the A6 and A8 on the routes Mannheim – Paris but is also located on the traffic axis Paris – Saarbrücken – Frankfurt and Trier – Karlsruhe. The motorway can be reached within minutes without crossing town. So, the industrial estate is best suited for industrial investors.

The Industrial Areas Masterplan Saarland

In order for Saarland to continue attracting investors as before, meet the needs and requirements of modern industrial companies and stay an attractive business location, larger continuous areas for industry must be developed. That is what the Industrial Areas Masterplan Saarland stands for. According to the Masterplan, which is funded by the EFRE program, SHS subsidiary gwSaar, Saarland Economic Promotion Corporation, is currently developing four new industrial areas totalling 264 ha . In this context, one prominent location is the future industrial park Am Zunderbaum in Homburg/Kirkel

» www.masterplan-saarland.de