We work based on master plans on a global, regional, and local level. They are the foundation of the growth in the Bosch Group’s real estate portfolio. The plans are based on the global strategy and incorporate the requirements of the board of management and the divisions, as well as the perspectives of all stakeholders and users. Every plan translates a vision into specific recommendations for action in each region and at each site.
Portfoliomanagement
THE REAL ESTATE STRATEGISTS
Whenever a building is procured, optimized, or utilized within the Bosch Group, the portfolio managers from Global Real Estate are always the ones behind it. We will take a look at their work – and their strategy.

They have foresight, can see the big picture, and also know the granular details: Portfolio manager Stefanie Sterzl and her colleagues look at the Bosch Group’s properties differently with every project. Does someone want to rent one hundred square meters of office space on short notice? Then the team examines the local market and recent contracts. Or maybe a master plan needs some fine-tuning, and they have to anticipate how regions will develop and recommend the next steps? In such cases, they expand their perspective beyond country borders, far into the future, and to all of Bosch’s 2,200 properties.

No matter what the portfolio managers are doing, they always have one thing in mind. “Throughout the entire life cycle of the properties, we ensure that our overall portfolio continues on a path toward optimum growth and adapts to the development of the company,” says Stefanie Sterzl, explaining the theoretical framework of her team’s work. “The Bosch Group’s properties are important assets. The portfolio has a high ownership rate of 80 percent. Handling these properties correctly can provide important financial leverage.” The portfolio managers at GR are currently working on around 200 projects, not including renovations and new construction.
Understanding the big picture is crucial here. After all, Stefanie Sterzl and her colleagues can’t just focus on the needs of individual divisions and sites. The long-term value for the entire Bosch Group is the decisive factor. “We are in constant communication regarding how requirements are changing,” Stefanie Sterzl says. “Our goal is to provide properties in a way that allows all companies in the Bosch Group to achieve their optimum potential, and that helps those companies see us as a strategic partner.”
The portfolio managers’ day-to-day involves procuring, operating, optimizing, and utilizing real estate. It’s complex work, because every decision they make involves sounding out a wide range of factors. The big five are: the market, efficiency, customers’ and associates’ needs, and sustainability.


STRATEGIC PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT
How the portfolio managers at Bosch Global Real Estate support the Bosch Group throughout the entire life cycle of the company’s properties.
1. ANALYSIS AND PLANNING
The foundation: extensive master plans that incorporate current and future user requirements, environmental factors, and profitability calculations.
2. PROCUREMENT
Rent, buy, or build? The answer is partly determined by the purpose of the property. Smart decisions here can save a lot of money.

3. OPERATING AND OPTIMIZING
The focus is on implementing workplace concepts or digital and environmental standards; economic efficiency is one of the objectives.
4. UTILIZING AND DIVESTING
If spaces are no longer in use, the overall strategy determines whether the property should be sold, rented out, or leased.

The complexity already begins with the most basic question: rent, buy, or build? Portfolio managers have to be able to make precise predictions about how prices and interest rates will develop and what level of added value they can expect. Energy prices, utilities, the building’s state of repair, its technology and facilities also have to be taken into account. Additional factors include the location, transportation links, land use, and logistical issues. For new construction or renovations, the portfolio managers provide support for the planning process, sign contracts, and supervise the projects. They cooperate closely with the divisions and sites, with architects, structural engineers, financial experts, realtors, and government agencies. In a nutshell, their job is to save money and resources by consistently making smart decisions. The same holds true for operating and optimizing properties, but that’s not all: When new workplace concepts or new digital or environmental standards are implemented, associates and the climate also benefit. At a time of rising energy costs and increasing rates of hybrid work, the question arises as to which spaces should be used and how, and which spaces are no longer needed. Optimizing can also mean renovating spaces, redesigning them, or using them differently. When market conditions are favorable, it may also be wise to sell properties that are no longer needed, as long as they can achieve a good price. The portfolio managers’ work contributes to the savings business case as well: they saved approximately 40 million euros in 2023.

Turning twelve into two: Tokyo as a case study
The GR project in Tokyo and Yokohama clearly illustrates how procurement and optimization are intertwined. The Bosch site’s development division, which covers the entire automotive business area, had grown significantly over the years, occupying twelve properties with offices and laboratories. Now, the division is down to just two properties. Portfolio manager Andreas Offele was directly involved: “The primary goals were to use the office spaces more effectively, to reduce the number of properties, and to construct an impressive new building,” he says. To that end, the portfolio managers combed through all of Bosch’s properties in Tokyo and analyzed which spaces could be optimized or shuttered. They terminated contracts and sold an office building. At the same time, they looked for a site in neighboring Yokohama.
The site needed to offer more than just excellent working conditions; it also had to be attractive to outsiders and serve as a draw for visitors. The results should be available for everyone to see starting in mid-2024: a sleek new building, with 53,000 environmentally friendly square meters spanning five stories – for research and development, events, and exhibitions, with inspirational spaces for collaborative work structures. There is a public cafe on an open square with room for events such as the annual German Christmas market. The project slots neatly into Bosch’s overall strategy without losing sight of the little details – and the real estate strategists at GR have done their part here.
In addition to their eye for detail, it’s their understanding of the big picture that makes the team members at GR so valuable to the Bosch Group as strategic partners. “GR is where everything comes together,” says Peter Svejkovsky, Head of Intellectual Property at Robert Bosch GmbH. “They are the first ones who see all the divisions’ plans, and they provide systematic analyses of those plans. That gives them a big-picture overview that no one else in the Group has.”

