POHA House becomes first major tenant in Moringa Hamburg HafenCity
HafenCity is gaining a new residential concept: POHA House is coming to Hamburg and opening its co-spaces in the ecological construction project Moringa at Baakenhafen. Germany's first residential high-rise, which will be built according to the cradle-to-cradle principle, is scheduled to open in the summer of 2024. POHA House will occupy the entire second of a total of three building sections with around 4,600 square meters of rental space.
"POHA is a great addition to our residential concept, but also a very important building block for HafenCity" – Vanja Schneider, Moringa GmbH
"Living in POHA House is all about sharing and community spirit. We create community spaces and turn the green roof terraces of the Moringa into meeting places," says Lea Mishra, co-founder of POHA House. "This sets us apart from the concept of so-called micro-apartments," the 25-year-old continues. "We have 53 shared apartments, which is the opposite of urban loneliness." In fact, 120 rooms will be created in Hamburg, which will be combined into apartments for three to five people. There will also be 18 studios.
It's a concept that also appeals to the operators of Moringa: "POHA is a great addition to our living concept, but also a very important building block for HafenCity," says Moringa managing director Vanja Schneider. And an ecologically sensible one that limits the use of space: the need for owner-occupied living space is reduced because the residents of an apartment share a kitchen and living room and do not need a study or guest room. Visitors can be accommodated in a total of ten short-stay apartments, which are just as much a part of the POHA concept as the 570-square-meter co-working space, which can be converted into a home office.
This also results in significant added value for the other residents of Moringa and the entire neighborhood, says Vanja Schneider. This is because both the visitor apartments and event rooms with large kitchens for birthday parties and many services that can be booked via the POHA app are open to all Moringa residents. The co-working space is also open to other users, such as start-ups and companies from outside the building. "The option for our tenants to book additional rooms as needed is particularly beneficial to our sustainability concept," says Vanja Schneider. "They, too, can do without guest rooms or studies. Ultimately, this leads to a reduction in individual living space requirements, but the usable space is still larger than specified in the lease."
The POHA concept also fits in very well with Moringa's ecological and healthy approach, as the interior design and furnishings feature many natural and health-promoting materials. In addition, future users will be motivated to save energy by being able to read their consumption transparently via an app and compare it with previous consumption. In addition to the lease agreement, both companies have therefore entered into a strategic partnership that will enable them to collaborate on future projects if it suits both parties.
Moringa GmbH is 100 percent dedicated to the development of healthy and sustainable real estate and neighborhoods. Cradle-2-Cradle, i.e., the principle of circular economy and recycling, is a core element of this. Moringa Hamburg HafenCity on construction site 105 at Baakenhafen is the company's first project. Like POHA House, Moringa is also closely linked to Landmarken AG, owned by project developer Norbert Hermanns and his family. Moringa Hamburg is being built in a particularly sustainable manner using recyclable materials and offers more green space than the square meters of the developed property. In a unique way, the project combines sustainable construction and affordable living for families, couples, young people, and seniors in a prime location.
For POHA House GmbH, Moringa Hamburg is the third location after projects currently under construction in Aachen and Essen. "We want to grow and see this special building ensemble as an ideal place for our idea of merging the areas of living, meeting, and working in our co-spaces," says Lea Mishra. But the company is already looking beyond Hamburg: "We are looking for locations in major cities throughout Europe where we can build more POHA Houses."
