G G W

Public / Municipal Residential Housingggw-gelsenkirchen.de

Ggw GmbH is a municipal, non-profit housing company wholly owned by the City of Gelsenkirchen, Germany, managing approximately 5,000 rental apartments — including barrier-free and senior housing — for singles, families, and subsidized tenants at fair rents since 1950.

Company typePrivate
Founded1950
HeadquartersGelsenkirchen, Germany
Headcount51–100
GTM typeB2C
OfferingServices

What G G W does

G G W (legal name: Gelsenkirchener Gemeinnützige Wohnungsbaugesellschaft mbH, operating as ggw GmbH) is a municipal housing company headquartered in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. Founded in 1950 and wholly owned by the City of Gelsenkirchen, ggw operates on a purely non-profit, public-benefit basis (gemeinnützig) and is one of the largest landlords in the city, managing approximately 5,000 rental units distributed across multiple districts. The company serves a broad tenant base spanning singles, families, students, seniors, and lower-income households — including 550 barrier-free apartments and publicly subsidized WBS-requiring units starting at €5.80/m² — with rents ranging from approximately €398 to €1,131 per month warm. It is led by Managing Director Harald Förster, with Lukas Günther as Chairman of the Supervisory Board, and employs 51-100 staff.

The portfolio is operated using standard property-management systems (website-based apartment search, telephone and email rental inquiries, tenant magazine 'ggw:zeilen') rather than a proprietary technology platform. Differentiated service offerings include social management for tenant conflicts and payment difficulties, a 24/7 emergency repair service, an apartment-exchange program, fiber-optic network access in newer buildings, and energy-efficient construction to KfW-55 standard. The company also builds and hands over social-infrastructure assets for the city, including 570 kindergarten places created in 7 years and the €22 million Grundschule Ebersteinstraße elementary school completed in 2022.

Revenue is generated primarily through recurring monthly residential rental income (Warmmiete), supplemented by parking/garage rentals and occasional property sales. Customer acquisition is direct-to-consumer via the ggw-gelsenkirchen.de website, phone (0209/706-1064), email ([email protected]), and walk-in service at headquarters. Strategic activity centers on the Waldquartier and Heidehof new-build projects, energy-efficiency modernization, and the school's-and-Kitas build-out, with the company maintaining membership in the WIR Wohnen im Revier e.V. alliance of 15 municipal housing companies in the Ruhr region.

G G W firmographics

Firmographics

Name: G G W
Legal name: ggw GmbH
Website: https://ggw-gelsenkirchen.de
Company type: Private
Founded year: 1950
Operating status: Operating
Headcount range: 51–100 employees
Short description: Ggw GmbH is a municipal, non-profit housing company wholly owned by the City of Gelsenkirchen, Germany, managing approximately 5,000 rental apartments — including barrier-free and senior housing — for singles, families, and subsidized tenants at fair rents since 1950.
Ownership category
akta.pro rank

G G W industry classification

Industry

Product category: Public / Municipal Residential Housing
NAICS: New Multifamily Housing Construction (except For-Sale Builders) (236116), New Single-Family Housing Construction (except For-Sale Builders) (236115)
SIC: General Bldg Contractors - Residential Bldgs (1520), General Bldg Contractors - Nonresidential Bldgs (1540), Services-To Dwellings & Other Buildings (7340)
akta.pro primary industry: Residential General Contracting (New Build) (IMAFAAAB)
akta.pro secondary industries: Commercial General Contracting (New Build) (IMAFAAAA), Self-Performing General Contractors (IMAFAAAI)

Keywords

Residential property rental
Municipal housing services
Affordable housing management
Barrier-free apartment housing
Public housing association

Where G G W is headquartered

Location

Headquarters

HQ city: Gelsenkirchen
HQ country: Germany
HQ region: Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

G G W business model

Business model

GTM type: B2C
Offering type: Services
Cost components: Operations, Infrastructure, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

Residential Rental Income: ggw generates revenue through monthly rental income from approximately 5,000 residential units. Rents are priced at fair rates including utilities (Warmmiete). Some units are publicly subsidized (WBS - Wohnberechtigungsschein required) at around €5.80/m², while others are market-rate.
Garage and Parking Rentals: Additional revenue from rental of garages and parking spaces attached to residential properties.
Property Sales (Occasional): ggw also sells properties occasionally (see 'Kaufen' section on website), indicating secondary sales revenue from real estate disposition.

Pricing tiers

Model	Billing	Price
Subscription	Monthly	Standard rental apartments without WBS requirement
Subscription	Monthly	Publicly subsidized housing with WBS requirement
Subscription	Monthly	Senior housing with special requirements
Subscription	Monthly	Heidehof new construction

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

G G W product offering

Product offering

Core offering

ggw GmbH is a municipal housing company that rents and manages approximately 5,000 residential apartments across Gelsenkirchen, Germany, to individuals and families of all ages and income levels. Its offering includes standard rental apartments, publicly subsidized housing (WBS), barrier-free and senior housing, garage/parking rentals, occasional property sales (Kaufen), and complementary tenant services such as social management, repair/emergency services, hallway cleaning, and winter service. The company also develops new construction projects (e.g., Waldquartier, Heidehof, Virchowbogen) and social infrastructure such as schools and daycare centers.

Product overview

GG W (Gelsenkirchener Gemeinnützige Wohnungsbaugesellschaft mbH) operates as a municipal housing company managing approximately 5,000 rental apartments in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. The core offering consists of the Mietangebote rental catalog and Stellplatzangebote parking services, complemented by the tenant magazine ggw:zeilen and the Neubau/Neubauprojekte new construction division. Living services (Wohnservice) add value through hallway cleaning, winter maintenance, fiber internet, and social management. The company specializes in barrier-free and senior housing, and has expanded into building schools and kindergartens as part of urban development.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

Mietangebote (Residential Rental Apartments) Approximately 5,000 long-term rental apartments across Gelsenkirchen ranging from 38 m² to 200 m², available to individuals, couples, families, students, and seniors through the searchable website with filters for size, rooms, price, and district. Apartments are offered as Warmmiete (rent including utilities), with optional Bürgschaft in lieu of deposit.
Stellplatzangebote (Garage and Parking Space Rentals) Separate rental of garages and parking spaces attached to ggw's residential properties, listed as a distinct product category on the website for tenants and other local parkers in Gelsenkirchen.
Property Sales (Kaufen) Occasional one-time sale of ggw-owned residential units (Eigenheime) to individual buyers in Gelsenkirchen, presented via the dedicated 'Kaufen' section of the company website.
New Construction Projects (Neubauprojekte) New-build residential construction projects delivered by ggw in Gelsenkirchen, including multi-family apartment buildings, senior-friendly housing, and mixed-use developments with Kindergartens. Active projects include Waldquartier (Am Buerschen Waldbogen), Heidehof, and Virchowbogen.
Barrier-Free and Senior Housing (Barrierefreie / Seniorenwohnungen) Approximately 550 barrier-free or barrier-reduced apartments (step-free access, elevators, accessible bathrooms) targeted at seniors (typically 60+) and people with mobility challenges. Select senior complexes include on-site dementia-care groups and nursing services, and some units require a Wohnberechtigungsschein (WBS) housing eligibility certificate.
Publicly Subsidized Housing (Wohnberechtigungsschein / WBS units) Government-subsidized rental units within the ggw portfolio rented to income-qualified households holding a valid Wohnberechtigungsschein (WBS) housing eligibility certificate, starting at approximately €5.80/m².
School and Daycare Construction (Schulen & Kitas) Design and construction of public primary schools (Grundschulen) and daycare centers (Kitas) for the City of Gelsenkirchen, handed over to the city upon completion. Includes the 21.9 million euro Grundschule Ebersteinstraße and accompanying Kita facilities.

Quantifiable outcome

440 new apartments built since 2010
+3 more outcomes

Companies that use G G W

Customer profile

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

G G W technology and API

Technology

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API: No
API docs
API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Feature3 records

G G W partnerships and signals

Strategic signal

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

WIR Wohnen im Revier e.V.coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2009ggw has been a member since 2009 of WIR Wohnen im Revier e.V., an association of 15 municipal housing companies developing solutions for urban development challenges in the Ruhr region. This partnership enables collaborative approaches to regional housing and urban planning issues.
Stadt Gelsenkirchen (City of Gelsenkirchen)coreOthersggw is 100% owned by the city of Gelsenkirchen and operates as a purely public-benefit entity (gemeinnützig). The city is the sole shareholder and provides the company's mandate to create affordable housing and social urban development.
BeamtenwohnungsvereinminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Beamtenwohnungsverein in the Waldquartier 'Am Buerschen Waldbogen' development, where ggw and the Beamtenwohnungsverein jointly created new multi-family housing.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

G G W competitors and assessment

Company assessment

Broad incumbents

Vonovia: Germany's largest private residential real estate company with ~540,000 units nationwide. Operates broadly in the same residential rental space but as a stock-listed, profit-maximizing incumbent rather than a municipal non-profit.
Deutsche Wohnen: Major German residential landlord (~610,000 units, now majority-owned by Vonovia). Comparable as a broad residential incumbent; differs as commercial rather than municipal non-profit.

Direct peers

Bauverein München: Municipal housing association of Munich, managing ~32,000 units under a public-benefit (gemeinnützig) mandate. Functional twin of ggw in Bavaria, serving comparable multi-generation tenant segments with on-site social services.
Nassauische Heimstätte | Wohnstadt: Municipal housing company of Hesse, owned by the state of Hessen with ~58,000 units. Comparable in mission (state/public-benefit), portfolio scale class (a tier above ggw), and tenant services orientation.
SAGA Siedlungs-Aktiengesellschaft Hamburg: Municipal housing company of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, managing ~136,000 units under the same public-benefit Gemeinwohl model as ggw — a near-textbook functional comparable for a German municipal housing association.
degewo: Berlin's municipal housing company managing ~75,000 units under a public-benefit mandate. Same non-profit municipal-housing business model and tenant service orientation as ggw, albeit in a different (urban, growing) market.
Vivawest: Germany's largest municipal-style residential landlord with ~120,000 units, headquartered in Gelsenkirchen (same city as ggw). Same North Rhine-Westphalia municipal-housing DNA and tenant base, making it the closest direct comparable.
Allbau GmbH: Municipal housing company of Essen (NRW), managing ~18,000 units for the City of Essen with the same non-profit gemeinnützig mandate and tenant base profile as ggw in the immediate Ruhr region.
Gebag: Municipal housing company of Duisburg (NRW), majority-owned by the City of Duisburg. Direct peer in the same Ruhr municipal-housing universe and fellow WIR Wohnen im Revier member.

Regional players

LEG Immobilien: NRW-focused residential real estate company with ~166,000 units. Operates in the same geographic market and tenant pool as ggw but as a commercial, DAX-listed entity rather than a municipal landlord.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

G G W compliance and trust

Trust signal

Compliance2 records

G G W financial estimates

Financial estimate

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

G G W leadership team

Management profile

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

G G W funding detail

Funding detail

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

G G W M&A and investment

M&A and investment

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about G G W

What does G G W do?

Is G G W a public or private company?

G G W is a private company. It is classified as state government owned and is currently operating.

When was G G W founded?

G G W was founded in 1950. It employs 51 to 100 people.

Where is G G W based?

G G W is headquartered in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, in the Europe region.

How does G G W make money?

Three revenue lines are on record. Residential Rental Income is the primary driver. The others are garage and Parking Rentals and property Sales (Occasional).

Who are G G W's main competitors?

Broad incumbents on record are Vonovia and Deutsche Wohnen. Direct peers are Bauverein München, Nassauische Heimstätte | Wohnstadt, SAGA Siedlungs-Aktiengesellschaft Hamburg, degewo, Vivawest, Allbau GmbH and Gebag. LEG Immobilien is listed as a regional player.

Does G G W have an API?

No public API is recorded for G G W.

What industry is G G W in?

G G W's product category is Public / Municipal Residential Housing. Its primary akta.pro industry code is IMAFAAAB, Residential General Contracting (New Build), with a secondary code of IMAFAAAA, Commercial General Contracting (New Build). Its NAICS code is 236116 and its SIC code is 1520.