High-Rise Master Plan 2008
With the 2008 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.
In 2005, the City of Frankfurt commissioned Jourdan & Müller to continue the high-rise building master plan from 1998. Since then, we have seen the construction of other high-rise buildings (such as Westhafen Tower, Gallileo, Palaisquartier, Skyper, OpernTurm, the new building of the European Central Bank) as well as those that have gained approval (Torhaus II, high-rise on the former Telenorma site) for the skyscraper masterplan. As part of the update, the six high-rise locations, which had been eliminated by the failure of Frankfurt 21, were also to be removed from the plan.
The new design was first presented to the public in March 2007. It provided 16 new sites for a total of 29 individual projects, with 12 buildings at a height of 100 meters and 17 buildings under the 100-meter mark (called “high points”). The principle of gathering in large clusters the buildings, Financial District and Messe/European District was maintained and supplemented by a new cluster, ‘Northern inner city’ with residential buildings on Stiftstrasse and on the Turmpalast area in the vicinity of the Palaisquartier highrises. In contrast to the cluster concept, Jourdan & Müller also suggested locations where no high-rise buildings have been built, such as the main station, the Osthafenmole and the Ratswegkreisel.
In 2008, based on the recommendations of Jourdan & Müller, the City of Frankfurt set up its own template with 25 individual projects at a total of 17 locations. Nearly all the sites proposed by Jourdan were taken over, but many were reduced in amount: 3 of 5 proposed high-rise buildings on the Emser Bridge (Emser Brücke) in the European District, one of two high-rise buildings in the Hafenstrasse, one of two high-rise buildings on the Turmpalast area and a high-rise building for the DZ Bank on the Platz der Republik. Newly added was a third high-rise on the Maintor site and a high-rise at the Festhalle. A high-rise building for the DZ Bank was finally included in the plan, but with a reduced height. The high-rise building at the main station, initially proposed by Jourdan & Müller with a height of 180 meters and reduced to 100 meters by the city, was ultimately granted a height of 200 meters.
The expanded high-rise plan with 26 new high-rise buildings at a total of 18 locations was decided on 11 December 2008, voted by CDU, Greens and FDP in the city parliament. The following clusters have been developed:
Banking District
| Project Name | Height | Address | Owner | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marienturm | 210 meters | Taunusanlage 9–11 | DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale, DB Real Estate, Degi | In 2004, there were intentions to demolish the Hochhaus Taunusanlage 11 in favour of a new 250-meter-high building. The maximum height was ultimately limited to 210 meters due to concerns of over-shading the local environment. In 2013, construction company, Hochtief acquired the Taunusanlage 9-10 site and presented plans for a tower only 155 meters high. The site Taunusanlage 11 is no longer part of the planning, as the Hochhaus was renovated from 2011-2013. The construction of the 155-meter-high Marienturm began in 2016 and was completed in 2019. |
| Hochhaus am Platz der Republik | 175 meters | Platz der Republik | DZ Bank | The DZ Bank has planned a third high-rise building between Hochhäusern Westendstraße 1 and City-Haus I as an extension of its headquarters. The plan was initially rejected by the city of Frankfurt because of potential over-shading of the West End, but ultimately it was supported. As a result, the DZ Bank must commit itself to concentrating new jobs at the tower and to convert the Union Investment high-rise into a residential tower to meet the city's demand for a 30 percent residential area. In 2014, however, DZ Bank sold the Union Investment high-rise to DIC Asset AG. |
| WINX | 110 meters | Neue Mainzer Straße 6–12 | DIC Asset | Part of the Maintor project. The plans initially saw a 150-meter-high tower, but in negotiations with the city of Frankfurt, the height was reduced. The construction work started in 2015, with completion due by the end of 2017. Even before the start of construction, Union Investment has invested in about 60 percent of the office space. In November 2014, the WINX tower was sold to the entrepreneur, Susanne Klatten. |
| Maintor Porta | 70 meters | Weißfrauenstraße 7–9 | DIC Asset | Built from 2012 to 2014 as part of the Maintor project. Union Investment moved into the high-rise in 2015 as the sole tenant. |
| Maintor Panorama | 64 meters | Neue Mainzer Straße 2–4 | DIC Asset | Built from 2013 to 2015 as part of the Maintor project. The main tenant is the CMS Hasche Sigle Economic Chamber. |
| Allianz-Hochhaus | 60 meters | Taunusanlage | Allianz SE | There was already discussion for a 90-meter-high building on the site of the Allianz at the Taunusanlage in the high-rise plan of 1998, though a decision was not taken at that time. From 2003 to 2006, Allianz re-developed the property, leaving the construction site free for high-rise building. The Allianz built up to 170 meters, similar to the neighbouring Opera tower, but the city of Frankfurt remained negative due to over-shading of the Opera tower. The building was finally included in the new high-rise plan of 2008, but with only a maximum height of 60 meters. As of 2016, the Allianz has no plan to build a high-rise on this site, since all high-rise variants would lead to a shading of the Opera tower at this point. |
| Mainzer Landstraße 36 | 60 meters | Mainzer Landstraße 36 | St Martins Property Group | This high-rise building was once again rejected by threatened shading of the residential district in the West End. From 2015 to 2016, a new eight-storey building called "Vista" was built on the property. |
Messe District
| Project Name | Height | Address | Owner | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hochhaus Theodor-Heuss-Allee 2 | 140 meters | Theodor-Heuss-Allee 2 | DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale | Known as the "Poseidon House", built in 1986, it stands at 62 meters high at the intersection of Theodor-Heuss-Allee and Hamburger Allee. It was the headquarters of Aventis (now Sanofi) from 2000 to 2003. In 2008, the plot was included as a potential site in the high-rise building plan. In 2010, ING-DiBa rented the entire building for its new headquarters in Germany. In order to provide the required 40,000 square meters of office space, part of the Poseidon house was demolished and replaced by a higher component. In 2013, ING-DiBa moved into the building complex, which has since been named "Leo". |
| Kulturcampus Hochhaus Senckenberganlage 15 | 140 meters | Senckenberganlage 15 | ABG Frankfurt Holding | From the 1970s until its demolition on February 2, 2014, this was where the 116-meter-high AfE tower of Johann-Wolfgang Goethe University was located. It was part of the Bockenheim campus of Goethe University and housed offices and seminar rooms for the social sciences, education and psychology departments until March 2013. On 23rd August 2011, the state of Hesse sold the Bockenheim campus to the city of ABG Frankfurt Holding, as Goethe University decided to close the Bockenheim location, relocating instead to the West End campus and the Riedberg campus. In September 2015, Commerz Real acquired the property for the open-end real estate fund, hausInvest and planned to build a 140-meter high hotel and residential building on the Senckenberg site. The first 16 floors have a long-term lease agreement for 25 years with Meliá Hotels International, who wish to open a four-star hotel here. From the 17th to the 40th floor, up to 300 apartments are due to be built. In January 2016, an architectural competition took place, but no clear winner was chosen; only three second prizes were awarded. The three architects' offices were given the task of reworking their designs. In March 2016, the revised design of Cyrus Moser Architekten was chosen as the winner. The start of construction of the hotel and residential house (also known as a hybrid high-rise house) is to begin in the fourth quarter of 2016. The property with the second highest possible high-rise building with a height of 100 meters (office building called Nord) is still owned by ABG Frankfurt Holding. |
| Hochhaus an der Matthäuskirche | 130 meters | Hohenstaufenstraße | In 2002, the Regional Assembly of the Evangelical Regional Association decided to demolish the Church of St. Matthew and sell the property. The church, which was designed with space for 600 people, was visited by an average of only 30 persons per service. Criticism from various viewpoints was expressed in direct opposition to the planned demolition. Jochem Jourdan, an architect and city guide, made the proposal to preserve a considerable part of the church building in 2007, and to integrate it into a new high-rise building. This compromising solution was solidified in the 2008 High-Level Plan: It was decided that the Church should be preserved as far as possible and, if necessary, be integrated into a new high-rise building. There are currently no known high-rise plans for the location (as of 2016). | |
| Hochhaus Hafenstraße/Adam-Riese-Straße | 110 meters | Hafenstraße, Adam-Riese-Straße | A high-rise building between the railway lines of the main station and the 93-foot Hochhaus Hafenstrasse 51 is to form the southern end of the exhibition centre. There are currently no known high-rise plans for the location (as of 2016). | |
| Hochhaus an der Emser Brücke (Nord) | 100 meters | Europa-Allee (Baufeld 42a) | Aurelis | In 2013, Messe Frankfurt GmbH purchased the property adjacent to the exhibition grounds. The building project - named 'Messangesang Süd' - intends to create an office and hotel building with at least 35,000 square meters of gross floor space. In 2014 the Architekturbüro Cyrus Moser Architekten won a corresponding architectural competition. The construction of the 100-meter high-rise building was planned for 2016 and completion for 2018. In 2015, however, construction was postponed indefinitely. |
| Kulturcampus Bürogebäude Nord | 100 meters | Senckenberganlage | ABG Frankfurt Holding | Two high-rise buildings have permission to be built on the site of the former AfE tower. Commerz Real acquired a section and have plans to build a 140 meter high hotel and residential building (Project Senckenberatlage 15) from 2016 onwards. For the 100-meter office building Nord, ABG Frankfurt Holding is still looking for a buyer (as of 2016). |
| Hochhaus an der Emser Brücke (Süd) | 80 meters | Europa-Allee (Baufeld 29) | Aurelis | In 2014, the property was bought by P + B Planen and Bauen GmbH & Co. KG and the Porsche Design Group. They are planning an exclusive residential high-rise: the "Porsche Design Tower Frankfurt". An architectural competition was won in 2015 by Architekturbüro Grüntuch Ernst Planungsgesellschaft with a design for a 100 meter high residential tower. However, the second-place design by blauraum architects - who also designed a 100-meter tower - will be implemented. The construction is scheduled to start in 2016 and be completed in 2018. |
| Kulturcampus Wohnturm | 70 meters | Robert-Mayer-Straße | Aurelis | The site is still used by the Goethe-University for the Department of Computer Sciences. |
| Hochhaus am Europagarten (Süd) | 60 meters | Europa-Allee 101-103 (Baufeld 22-23) | Aurelis | The Nassauische Heimstätte has bought the property and since November 2014, has been building the "Praedium" residential building, complete with 242 apartments. The 66 meter high building is to due be completed in 2017. |
| Hochhaus am Europagarten (Nord) | 60 meters | Europa-Allee (Baufeld 43) | Aurelis | The plot, designated as "Building site 43", is still for sale (as of 2016). |
| Hochhaus an der Festhalle | 60 meters | Westend-Süd | A 60-meter high office building is planned for erection between the main hall and the messeturm. There are currently no known high-rise plans for the location (as of 2016). | |
| Stadtportal West Europaboulevard (Nord) | 60 meters | Europa-Allee 140-142 (Baufeld 3a) | Aurelis | Revitalis Erste Grundstücksgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG has acquired the property and has been building the "Westside Tower" since the beginning of 2014. In the spring of 2016, the 66-meter high tower will be completed with 244 rented apartments. |
| Stadtportal West Europaboulevard (Süd) | 60 meters | Europa-Allee 165 (Baufeld 4a) | Aurelis | Wilma Wohnen Süd GmbH has acquired the property and has been building the "AXIS" residential building since November 2013 with 152 apartments. The 60 meter high building was completed in early 2016. |
Northern Inner City
| Project Name | Height | Address | Owner | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hochhaus Stiftstraße/Katzenpforte | 60 meters | Stiftstraße | SEB AG | From 2012 to 2013, the north-western part of the area between Bleichstrasse, Katzenpforte and Stiftstraße was demolished, along with the former Turmpalast cinema. The residential and commercial building, "Turm-Carrée" was situated there until 2014. There are currently no known plans for any residential building in the south-east. |
| Hochhaus Sireo-Telekom-Areal | 60 meters | Stiftstraße | Deutsche Telekom | In 2012, an urban development competition for the property was launched. The Max Dudler architectural office was awarded a second prize with a design for a 90 to 100 meter high residential building, while a first prize was not awarded. In consultation with the City of Frankfurt, the draft has been revised and now has three towers with heights of 40, 50 and 80 meters. The project developer, Corpus Sireo is looking for an investor to realise the high-rise complex - named 'Three Sisters' - along with some 180 apartments. In February 2016, Becken Development acquired the property. The plans were once again due to be fundamentally revised. The share of housing will increase to between 250 and 300. Construction is due to begin in the middle of 2017. |
Further Locations
| Project Name | Height | Address | Owner | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hochhaus am Hauptbahnhof | 200 meters | Mannheimer Straße/Stuttgarter Straße | Vivico | In the parking lot on the southern side of the central station, a building of more than 300 m high, called "Campanile", was to be built in the 1980s, but plans failed after several disputes with a neighbour. When Deutsche Bahn 2008 signalled interest in the location for around 3,000 employees, the permitted height of the planned building was doubled from 100 to 200 meters. The plans for a Bahntower in Frankfurt were disintegrated in 2009, when the railway rented the Silberturm in Frankfurt's banking district for around 2,000 employees. |
| Hochhaus auf der Osthafenmole | 60 meters | Osthafen | In 2011, the building plan 799 'Honsellstraße' entered into force, which stipulated a design for a hotel with a maximum of 100 beds and a building height of maximum 60m. The restriction on the number of beds was justified by the Seveso II Directive, since a dangerous goods warehouse was located in the near east harbour, where chemicals are stored. In 2013, the hotel specialist, Harald Peters presented plans for a 95-meter high building with 150 to 180 rooms, as a smaller hotel would not be economically viable. | |
| Stadtportal Ost Ratswegskreisel (Nord) | 60 meters | Hanauer Landstraße | No known plans. | |
| Stadtportal Ost Ratswegskreisel (Süd) | 60 meters | Hanauer Landstraße | No known plans. |
