High-Rise Master Plan 1998
With the 1998 high-rise master plan, the City of Frankfurt wanted to express its political opinion on how and where high-rise buildings should have been built. Using this master plan, it was intended to give investors and clients better orientation.
The design of a new high-rise master plan – designed by Jourdan & Müller under the title ‘Frankfurt 2000’ – was presented to the public in September 1997. The design provided 18 new high-rise locations in three ‘densification zones’. An important recurring feature of the plan was the “cluster concept”, which says that high-rise buildings should be grouped together in clusters. Wentz, who was then responsible for the planning, said that this concept would leave other districts of high-rise buildings free and “preserve their urban, social and cultural identity.” This would limit the investment pressure to three defined high-rise areas.
The first consolidation zone is the traditional Financial District, where Jourdan & Müller proposed the construction of five high-rise buildings with heights between 130 meters (426 feet) and 228 meters (748 feet). The second compaction zone, Messe/European District includes the exhibition ground as well as the area of a directly adjoining main station, on which a new city district is planned. A total of five high-rise buildings were proposed for the area, including the 369-meter (1,210 feet) Millennium Tower. The third zone with six high-rise buildings was the park area. The Park District was to become a new city quarter on the grounds of the central station, as the Deutsche Bahn wanted, through the “Frankfurt 21“project, to replace the dead-end railway station with a transit station.
Of the 18 suggested locations, 16 were approved by the City of Frankfurt. The decision was made for a high-rise building on the site of the Allianz company on the Taunusanlage (90 meters/295 feet) and a high-rise on the former Telenorma area (160 meters/525 feet). The condensed zones are described in detail below.
Financial District
The Financial District is not officially a city district. It consists of the western part of the inner city, the southern part of the Westend along the Mainzer Landstrasse, and the eastern part of the station quarter. It is the classic development zone for high-rise buildings. Across the approximately 2.5 square kilometers area are three buildings with a height of more than 200 meters (Commerzbank Tower, Westend 1, MAIN TOWER). The zone is very well connected to the public transport network. The S-Bahn stations Taunusanlage und Hauptwache (S1-S6, S8-S9), the subway stations, Willy-Brandt-Platz (U1-U5 and U8) and Alte Oper (U6-U7) and the Central Station are within easy distance.
| Project Name | Height | Address | Owner | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MAX | 228 meters | Große Gallusstr. 10–14, Neue Schlesingergasse 10–16 | Deutsche Bank AG (ehemals) | The high-rise was due to replace Deutsche Bank's dealer centre. Construction work was initially planned for 2003, but planning was stopped after the terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001. In 2015, Deutsche Bank sold its entire site - the so-called Deutsche Bank Triangle - to a project developer. From 2017, the company is planning to refurbish the site with four high-rise buildings, with a 228-meter high-rise building at the original MAX location. |
| Hochhauskomplex Neue Mainzer Straße | 197 meters | Neue Mainzer Str. 57–59, Junghofstraße 27 | Frankfurter Sparkasse, Württembergische Hypothekenbank | Neighbours to this plot planned a common double tower. In 2001, an architectural competition was launched, won by KSP Engel und Zimmermann Architekten. However, the plans disintegrated during the market recession for office properties. There are currently no known high-rise plans for the location (as of 2016). |
| Hochhaus Bankhaus Metzler/LHB Internationale Handelsbank | 175 meters | Große Gallusstr. 16–18 | Bankhaus Metzler, LHB Internationale Handelsbank (ehemals) | In 2001, neighbours of the property planned a new building of high-rise buildings, but the plans disintegrated during the market recession for office properties. In 2014, Bankhaus Metzler opened its headquarters in Große Gallusstraße 18 and acquired the Grossgallstrasse 16 site from the LHB Internationale Handelsbank. Both properties were sold by Metzler 2015 to Tishman Speyer Properties, which, since the beginning of 2016, has been the Omni Tower - a 185-meter office complex and residential building. |
| Kaiserkarree | 135 meters | Taunustor 3, Neue Mainzer Str. 37–39 | Rheinische Hypothekenbank (ehemals) | This property was sold to Commerz Real AG and Tishman Speyer Properties in 2007. After a review of the plans, the project was renamed Taunusturm. It includes a 170 meter high office tower and a 63 meter high residential building. The buildings were constructed without pre-letting from 2011 to 2013. |
| Hochhaus Frankfurter Sparkasse/Landeszentralbank | 130 meters | Neue Mainzer Str. 47–51 | Frankfurter Sparkasse, Landeszentralbank | No known plans. |
Messe District
The exhibition grounds extend over the districts of Bockenheim, Gallus, and Westend-South. The area can be reached via the underground line, U4 (Festhalle/Messe). The Central Station is just one stop away. The most famous buildings are MesseTurm, Westend Gate, plus Kastor and Pollux. The new European District has been built on the site of the abandoned Central Freight Terminal directly on top of the exhibition grounds. An extension of underground line B is to connect the European District with the main station and the inner city in the future.
| Project Name | Height | Address | Owner | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Millennium Tower | 369 meters | Güterplatz 3–7 | Vivico | Originally planned to be the tallest building in Europe. Since 2001, building laws have changed. Recently, the project was presented as a construction model at the Cityscape 2007 exhibition in Dubai. Status October 2018: The company CA Immo is currently planning a skyscraper at this location, which should not reach the full height for construction cost reasons. |
| Tower 1 | 210 meters | Osloer Straße | Vivico | In 2002 the architect, Jean Nouvel presented a draft for a 212 meter office building, which was not realised. In 2014, an architectural competition was launched and won by Meurer Architekten with a design for a 175m office and hotel high-rise. Since then, the height has again been adjusted to 190 meters, and the construction name, ONE was decided for the project. |
| Tower 185 | geplant 185 meters (in reality: 200 meters) | Friedrich-Ebert-Anlage 35–37 | Vivico | Built 2008-2011. The main tenant is the auditing company, PricewaterhouseCoopers. The building height of Tower 185 was increased to 200 meters during the planning phase. |
| Tower 2 | 160 meters | Osloer Straße | Vivico | In 2008, the Global Hyatt Corporation planned a 113m hotel tower on the property, but in 2013, Hyatt withdrew from the contract for the "Grand Hyatt Frankfurt". Since the beginning of 2016, the gsp Gesellschaft für Städtebau und Projektentwicklung has been building the 172-meters-high highrise Grand Tower with 401 apartments on 47 floors, the highest pure residential building in Germany up to now. |
| Highrise Project Old Police Headquarters | 145 meters | Friedrich-Ebert-Anlage 11 | Bundesland Hessen | Since 2010, the State of Hesse has negotiated the sale of this property with an investor. Problems have arisen following the planned extension of the subway line U5 under the site, which could limit the new development, including high-rise construction. |
Park District
The Park District is a new city quarter due to be built over the railway lines of the Central tation between the Gutleut and Gallus districts, in connection with Deutsche Bahn’s “Frankfurt 21” project. The original plan was to complete the railways completely underground, extend the main station from a head to a transit station and to develop the vacant areas for residential and commercial use.
In 2002, the railway company gave up the project for financial reasons. With RheinMain Plus, a successor project was presented, although they do not provide any sub-tunnelling for the tracks.
| Project Name | Height | Address | Owner | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hochhaus Deutsche Bahn 3 | 290 meters | Gleisgelände Hauptbahnhof | ||
| Hochhaus Deutsche Bahn 2 | 250 meters | Gleisgelände Hauptbahnhof | ||
| Hochhaus Deutsche Bahn 4 | 230 meters | Gleisgelände Hauptbahnhof | ||
| Hochhaus Deutsche Post West | 175 meters | Nähe Hafentunnel | ||
| Hochhaus Deutsche Bahn 1 | 170 meters | Gleisgelände Hauptbahnhof | ||
| Hochhaus Deutsche Post Ost | 160 meters | Nähe Hafentunnel |
