The Return of the Operational Developer

PRIMUS Developments is a Hamburg-based project developer founded in 1999, with offices in Düsseldorf and Berlin, specialising in timber and timber-hybrid construction. The company committed to building exclusively in timber following the development of its WOODIE modular housing project in Hamburg Wilhelmsburg, and has since delivered timber projects across residential, commercial and public sector clients including the German Bundestag.

Lorenz Nagel, Geschäftsführer alongside his father and company founder Achim Nagel, trained as an architect at RWTH Aachen before joining the family firm in 2020. He sat down recently with REFIRE to help us learn more about the notion of the ‘operational developer’, about which he has become increasingly outspoken. He describes development as "the responsibility to shape the building process so that complex requirements lead to viable and lasting solutions" — a conviction that runs through the interview that follows.

REFIRE: Many developers spent years acting mainly as coordinators between investors, planners, consultants and contractors. Do you think that model is beginning to reach its limits?

Lorenz Nagel: The process became increasingly fragmented over time. Everyone optimised their own discipline, but responsibility for the overall project became less clear. For a long period, the market could absorb many inefficiencies because financing conditions were extremely favourable. That changed.

If financing costs remain high for several years, delays or overly complicated planning structures become much more critical. You cannot compensate for everything through rising values anymore. Developers therefore need a much deeper understanding of how buildings are actually planned, delivered and operated. Otherwise you end up managing enormous complexity while large parts of the real process remain outside your control.