Garching – sleep and work – district of Munich

In the near future, a dormitory with around 100 beds and 150 office jobs could be built right next to the large-scale recycling plant in Garching-Hochbrück. At least that’s what the operators of the system on Ingolstädter Landstraße hope for and have submitted a corresponding application to the city of Garching. However, some local politicians are very skeptical about these plans.

It is a decision of principle. So far, the city of Garching has rejected any form of living in the commercial area. If the application were to be granted in this case, that would probably have consequences for the municipality’s negotiating position in future cases – it might have more difficulty rejecting similar requests from other companies. On the other hand, several local politicians, including Mayor Dietmar Gruchmann (SPD), show sympathy for the project. With legally built living quarters on site for the employees of the company, there would be no need for commuting on the busy roads around Garching anyway.

Since March of this year, the operator of the plant no longer operates under the name “Die Umweltmeister”, but as Alfa Recycling Garching GmbH & Co. KG for the areas of waste wood, commercial waste, roofing felt, scrap and green waste as well as for waste streams such as excavated earth, rubble, asphalt , asbestos and other mineral waste as Geiger Entsorgung München GmbH. Behind it are the Geiger Group from the Allgäu and the Alfa Group. The facility operators see the dormitory as a cornerstone for the overall development of the site, which they want to “set up for the next 35 years,” says Ulrich Oberth, Geiger’s head of approval management and project development for the Garching recycling site.

The cause of a fire in July is still unknown

To this end, the facilities on the site, which has fallen into disrepute in the past due to several fires and violations of regulations, are to be modernized. Most recently, in July 2022, a conveyor belt at the waste wood processing plant caught fire for reasons that are still unclear. However, the plant is now back in operation, as is the construction waste processing, says Oberth. For the operators Geiger and Alfa, the dormitory would also be an argument to attract or secure employees for the company.

According to the operator, 65 employees currently work in the recycling plant. While the majority of the administrative staff lives in the Munich area, the sorting staff, site workers or plant operators come to a large extent from other countries such as Poland. You could – on weekdays – live and sleep in the planned residential building. The remaining places are to be given to other employees of companies registered in Garching who belong to the group of companies but have a clear connection to the recycling plant, as well as to truck drivers. There would be room for the trucks on the company premises, says Oberth.

The operator’s designs envisage a U-shaped building with around 100 beds in 30 single and 30 double apartments on three floors; plus 150 office workplaces in a four-storey part of the building. The house is to be built to a high quality and according to the principles of sustainability, and Oberth says they are even striving for an energy-plus construction method. The rents for the rooms in the hall of residence should be moderate. “That shouldn’t become our main source of income,” assures Ursula Althoff, Managing Director of Garching Hochbrück Vermögensverwaltung GmbH (GHV), which was founded specifically for the development of the location.

Before the Garching city council makes its fundamental decision, the administration wants to check to what extent the project can be clearly defined as a special case in terms of building law or has further consequences. In addition, the GHV will present its development plans for the entire site to the local politicians in one of the upcoming meetings.

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