Avignon Capital has announced that Google, a global technology company, will be moving into the Umspannwerk building in Kreuzberg, Berlin.
Google will occupy the building’s event hall and basement space from January 1st 2017, creating a Google Campus, a new space in Berlin for tech entrepreneurs.
The Umspannwerk will be Google’s first Campus in Berlin; the Campus spaces are designed to help entrepreneurs to form and build their businesses alongside other tech professionals, primarily within the start-up sector. Berlin will be the seventh Google Campus in the world, following those already active in London, Warsaw, Madrid, Sao Paulo, Seoul and Tel Aviv
The Umspannwerk was acquired by Avignon Capital in Q1 2015. The 11,500 sqm multi-let mixed-used building was once an electricity transformer station built in 1926; today, it is a thriving campus for the creative and media industries, let to different media and tech tenants including Red Bull Studios.
Patrick Flaton, CFOO at Avignon Capital, said, “At Avignon, we always strive to find tenants that uphold the key values of our properties; the Google brand fits perfectly with the creative ethos of the Umspannwerk building, a campus that brings together some of the most forward-thinking and inspired companies in Berlin.
Having Google as a tenant will not only raise the profile of the Umspannwerk, but add to the innovative eco-system that exists within the walls of the building – we look forward to hosting the Google Campus in the months and years to come.”
Avignon Capital’s portfolio contains a number of creative campuses, including the aforementioned Umspannwerk (Kreuzberg), the Ampere building, a former electricity transformer station in Berlin’s Prenzlauer Berg district, and Berliner Union Film, a 104-year-old cinema site located in Berlin’s Tempelhof district.