Clear the way for Munich’s new top-class surf park: the municipality of Hallbergmoos has approved the development plan for the SURFTOWN® MUC construction project. Adjacent to the surf park, the project developer Rock Capital Group is planning a multifunctional hybrid building of around 29,000 square meters with offices, restaurants and retail under the name “Hybrid One”. The aim is to create a unique work-life quarter in which the municipality of Hallbergmoos combines work and leisure in an exemplary new way.
By 2023, a 20,000 square meter surfing facility will be built that is unique in its form in Europe. In the pool, “running” waves can be generated every 10 seconds over a length of 180 meters, which, in contrast to “standing” waves, correspond more to the surfing experience in the sea. The wave facility offers capacity for up to 700 active surfers a day – at the same time, accompanying persons can use an outdoor fitness area, have their children entertained in the childcare facilities and relax on the sun loungers or lounge areas. The facility is designed for both professional athletes and beginners – the focus is on having fun and the typical surfing lifestyle for everyone.
Munich, the secret surf capital
Word has spread throughout the country that Munich not only has mountains, but also attracts surfers from all over the world: The world-famous standing Eisbach wave represents this urban myth. The initiator and founder of SURFTOWN® MUC, Chris Boehm-Tettelbach, got to know his co-founders through the Munich surf scene and pooled their respective skills for the mega project. Chris Boehm-Tettelbach is the founder and CEO of the agency planworx AG, which specializes in live marketing and has managed the event area of the Praterinsel for many years. Conrad Albert can look back on a long management career in the media industry and today, as CEO & shareholder of Ocean Peak Asset Management, invests in sectors including sport, lifestyle and sustainability. Michi Mohr discovered the Eisbach at the age of 16 and worked his way up to the “big waves” step by step as a surfer. He has spent his entire professional career in sports retail & e-commerce management – within the company, he is responsible for sports-related topics. “With our different biographies, we complement each other perfectly,” says Chris Boehm-Tettelbach. “In addition to the fun of surfing, we also share the absolute conviction that a project like SURFTOWN® MUC can only be innovative if it is also sustainable and climate-neutral.” Other shareholders of SURFTOWN Hallbergmoos GmbH are Gerfried Schuller, who made the board and lifestyle chain Blue Tomato internationally famous, and the financial experts Dr. Jan Ehrhardt (DJE Kapital), Dr. Thomas Heinrich and Erik Dahl, who are providing their expertise for the expansion into other locations.
Offices with wave connection and promenade
For this reason, the initiators in Hallbergmoos are also focusing on an urban combination of leisure, work, retail and quality of life. In coordination with SURFTOWN® MUC, the project developer Rock Capital Group is planning a casual and sustainable hybrid building. Covering 29,000 square meters, it will offer a globally unique combination of modern work and trendy recreation in conjunction with SURFTOWN® MUC. “The complex is set to become a magnet for progressive companies and visitors, particularly with its flexible and modern office designs, intelligent building technology and attractive open spaces,” says Andreas Wißmeier, Managing Director at Rock Capital. Potential laboratory space is also intended to attract other companies from the biotech and life science sectors. The idea of a new working environment is rounded off by high-quality gastronomy and shopping facilities for the general public.
Riding the green wave with SURFTOWN® MUC
The artificial waves are generated by a pneumatic chamber system – i.e. the conversion of overpressure into wave energy – in collaboration with the Canadian company WhiteWater West. The entire system is designed to be CO2-neutral. At the same time, all of the electricity is to be generated from renewable energies – 80 percent even from the company’s own photovoltaic systems. Another aspect: while Germany’s approximately 2,500,000 active surfers currently still have to fly around the world to ride meter-high waves, in future they will find the infrastructure they need right on Munich’s doorstep.
Hallbergmoos: International location
The site for the new surfing facility is located in the immediate vicinity of the airport and was approved for redevelopment by the municipality of Hallbergmoos back in 2019. The SURFTOWN® concept was successful for several reasons: Not only will you have a unique view of the surfing facility when approaching Munich in future, but the aspects of sport and sustainability in particular were a major deciding factor. Josef Niedermair, First Mayor of the municipality of Hallbergmoos: “The project should not only offer added value for tourists and athletes, but also for the other employees of the surrounding office park and our residents. Working, strolling, surfing, shopping and relaxing: with this project, we want to create a quality of life for everyone. Hallbergmoos already has many offers that are unparalleled, and not just for a community of this size – such as the sports and leisure park, the Goldachpark, the cultural summer or the more than 80 clubs.”
The municipality also expects additional impetus for the economy. “Thanks to courageous decisions, we have succeeded in bringing this unique selling point to Hallbergmoos. When it comes to settling here, we can score points with both hard and soft location factors, as the more than 1,600 companies based here prove. With the holistic SURFTOWN® MUC concept, we can once again combine tradition and vision for a better quality of life in the future,” says Alexander Mademann, business promoter for the municipality of Hallbergmoos. The town, which is located close to Munich Airport and was founded less than 200 years ago, is anything but a stranger to national and international visitors. People from almost 100 nations currently live in Hallbergmoos.
“The collaboration with the municipality of Hallbergmoos was very constructive and professional right from the start,” says Conrad Albert. “I am delighted that we have found a location where the enthusiasm for our project is so fully shared.” SURFTOWN® MUC is being built at Lilienthalstrasse 12 in Hallbergmoos. The ground-breaking ceremony for the start of construction work is scheduled for fall 2021 so that the facility can open in early summer 2023.
Images © Municipality of Hallbergmoos, photographer: Alexander Hirl
Visualizations © SURFTOWN® MUC
