High-rise Master Plans and Urban Developments in Frankfurt

SKYLINE ATLAS: Good morning, Professor Pützenbacher. Nice that you found time for our interview. What is it that fascinates you personally about Frankfurt and real estate?

Prof. Dr. Stefan Pützenbacher: For me, the diversity of architecture and real estate in Frankfurt is very memorable. If you drive into the city on the motorway in the morning, depending on which route you choose, you can see the skyline from different perspectives very early. For me it is very impressive to see the skyline and follow its development. What fascinates me is the movement, the constant change. It is a constant process that is not static, and of course I also contribute creatively as part of my legal advisory work as a lawyer.

SKYLINE ATLAS: How did you come up with the subject of real estate law and what led you to become a legal expert on skyscraper master plans?

Prof. Dr. Stefan Pützenbacher: I was interested in real estate law because sooner or later you can see the results of your work when advising on real estate law. In contrast to legal departments, which are more in the banking or corporate area, real estate law is mainly characterized by the fact that the advice bears recognizable fruit. In other words, if you give advice on high-rise planning and the high-rise is up and running four or five years later, then that’s something I really like to tell my children because I’ve been accompanying the processes behind it for years.

SKYLINE ATLAS: Let’s talk about investors and the administration. You have been dealing with real estate law since 1997. According to your subjective perception, what has changed in the last 20 years or so?

Prof. Dr. Stefan Pützenbacher: It has changed that cities and municipalities no longer have an open ear for every investor project. Instead, the cities are trying to steer the development – especially of high-rise buildings – in an orderly manner. That was different in the 1970s and 1980s.

In the 1970s and 1980s, the city of Frankfurt in particular welcomed every investor with a kiss and somehow made the high-rise project possible for them, possibly even at the limit of legal admissibility, as we now know from court decisions. Today it is different. One tries to bring more structure into this topic through the high-rise master plan. This annoys investors, but it opens up very good development opportunities for those properties that are already shown in the high-rise master plan.

SKYLINE ATLAS: Do neighbors from a high-rise location have the opportunity to object to the construction?

Prof. Dr. Stefan Pützenbacher: Basically, neighbors of building projects have the right to invoke rules and regulations that protect their neighbors. Purely in terms of planning law, these are, for example, the stipulations on the type of structural use that give the neighbor a so-called area conservation claim. Purely in terms of building regulations, these are, for example, spacing area issues, i.e. the question of whether or not the limit distances specified in the Hessian building regulations / state building regulations are observed.

In the case of all neighboring building projects, the client can be countered with the fact that he does not comply with the building planning law requirement of consideration if a building project affects the neighborhood in such a significant way that this can no longer be expected of the neighbor from the point of view of a neighborly community relationship. However, the case law has set a very high hurdle for such objections.

According to this stipulation, only measures that “shield” the neighbor, put him to an urban isolation, or that have an “overwhelming effect” on the neighbor or the buildings on the neighboring property are grossly inconsiderate. However, this will only be the case if a high-rise building has a particularly strong impact on a neighboring property that is significantly less developed. The deprivation of sun and ventilation, which would then have to have measurable effects on the quality of living and working on the neighboring property, would be such a circumstance that is grossly inconsiderate. However, this is regularly checked by experts during high-rise project development. The neighboring issues are then often dealt with by what are known as neighboring agreements before the construction work begins.

SKYLINE ATLAS: How can a client bring a completely new high-rise project to the city for discussion?

Prof. Dr. Stefan Pützenbacher: Every building owner is entitled to have the building feasibility of his property checked by the town planning office/the building supervision as part of a preliminary building inquiry. However, if the city has declared within the framework of the high-rise master plan that it will only allow new high-rise locations if they are already shown in the high-rise master plan, it is very difficult for a client in practice to build on a project that is not included in it.

The high-rise master plan allows exceptions to the principle contained therein and grants builders with a special position or public importance (such as the European Central Bank) the right to be able to build high-rise buildings even on properties that are not shown in the high-rise master plan. Experience has shown that the city is very cautious about this exception.

SKYLINE ATLAS: As an interested citizen, can you participate in the high-rise master plan?

Prof. Dr. Stefan Pützenbacher: The preparation of masterplans and urban planning framework plans is fundamentally an internal administrative matter, as these plans do not have any direct impact on the rights of property owners and citizens. Therefore, the possibilities for participation are fundamentally limited, unlike, for example, opportunities to participate in the preparation of a development plan.

However, it can be assumed that the city will set up workshops as part of the process for the renewal of the high-rise master plan, which are open to the general public in addition to the experts represented therein. After all, the city is about planning for its citizens, so that citizens’ interest in new high-rise locations must also play a role.

SKYLINE ATLAS: Which topics are negotiable between the client and the City of Frankfurt?

Prof. Dr. Stefan Pützenbacher: In real estate practice, it happens again and again that lengthy negotiations are conducted between building owners and the city about the use of a property. The main topics are the height of the building or the utilization figures (GFZ and GRZ), which are defined in the development plans. However, topics such as follow-up infrastructure measures, i.e. the question of whether the builder has to pay for traffic lights, pedestrian crossings, daycare places or a measure to improve the general environment, are the subject of negotiations with the city.

Recently, the “housing compensation” requested by the city has been the subject of negotiations between the building owner and the city again and again. This is about the question of whether a 30 percent share of residential property must be proven when realizing high-rise buildings in the building or elsewhere, and the resulting additional question of whether an approximately 30 percent share should also be included in the case of the creation of living space socially supported living space must be created. Since both demands of the city fundamentally frighten the office tower investor, the negotiations are conducted very intensively and often sealed with a regulation in an urban development contract.

SKYLINE ATLAS: How long does a new high-rise project, once approved, remain valid?

Prof. Dr. Stefan Pützenbacher: In principle, the building owner can claim the legal protection you are referring to for three years from a building permit, i.e. H. as long as he can use a building permit for a high-rise building that has been granted. If the building permit has not yet been granted, but a high-rise project has only been determined by planning, a building permit for a high-rise building based on this plan can be applied for as long as the plan remains unchanged.

In the case of approved high-rise buildings, the builder can also defend himself against subsequent changes to technical or legal standards in the building permit by way of inventory protection, for example in the event of specific dangers, for example, retrofit fire protection or static precautions.

SKYLINE ATLAS: Do city councilors have to approve each high-rise project individually?

Prof. Dr. Stefan Pützenbacher: Since the decisions of the Administrative Court in Frankfurt and the Hessian Administrative Court on the Eschersheimer Landstrasse 14 project, it has been made clear by the court that every high-rise project requires a “tailor-made development plan” because of its diverse effects on the surroundings and the cityscape.

According to the regulations of the Building Code, a development plan is drawn up as a municipal statute. Various resolutions in the city council are required for this. As a result, the city councilors have to deal in detail with every high-rise project that requires a development plan.

SKYLINE ATLAS: Can an investor implement a completely new high-rise location?

Prof. Dr. Stefan Pützenbacher: Since the decisions of the Administrative Court in Frankfurt and the Hessian Administrative Court on the Eschersheimer Landstrasse 14 project, it has been made clear by the court that every high-rise project requires a “tailor-made development plan” because of its diverse effects on the surroundings and the cityscape.

According to the regulations of the building code, a development plan is drawn up as a municipal statute. Various resolutions in the city council are required for this. As a result, the city councilors have to deal in detail with every high-rise project that requires a development plan.

SKYLINE ATLAS: What things should be simplified or improved regarding real estate law or building?

Prof. Dr. Stefan Pützenbacher: Well, we have already seen numerous changes to the law and amendments in recent years, most recently in 2018 in the Hessian building code. Above all, the transfer of responsibility for a large number of structural and technical requirements to the client is a very, very important point.

This means that as an investor or building owner you can no longer be sure that once a permit has been issued by the city, all points will be checked and “stamped”.

I actually think that’s a very good form of deregulation. On the other hand, of course, it means for the building owner that he has to protect himself when planning building projects. Securing means concluding contracts and concluding contracts usually means taking a lot of money in hand.

SKYLINE ATLAS: What are your very personal wishes for the future of Frankfurt?

Prof. Dr. Stefan Pützenbacher: I would like the city to develop further in terms of high-rise planning and that the realization of high-rise buildings does not turn into a kind of “closed shop” at some point where people say, “We have now reached a point where things cannot go on.” I am of the opinion that urban development is a dynamic process and that it must not be brought to an end through early planning.

There must be no thinking bans on the development of high-rise buildings outside of the previous locations and therefore I would like to see dynamic development continue.

SKYLINE ATLAS: Let’s move on to the last question. What is your personal opinion on the high-rise master plan? Is that a good thing, is it too stringent or does it not go far enough?

Prof. Dr. Stefan Pützenbacher: I think the master plans are basically a good thing, because there shouldn’t be any uncoordinated high-rise distribution. Therefore, a rough framework plan with preliminary decisions about high-rise clusters and individual high-rise locations makes sense.

The crucial question, of course, is how strictly the high-rise master plan is lived. If it means the general end for alternative high-rise locations per se, then I think it can be criticized on this point.

SKYLINE ATLAS: Thank you for the conversation.

The interview was conducted in July 2019.

The FFin stands for research competence in planning, construction and operation in the Frankfurt Rhine-Main urban area. With its planning and construction-related disciplines, the FFin shows a special social responsibility for sustainable development and the well-being of people in urban and rural areas. Application-oriented research provides results for resource-saving planning and development as well as an aesthetically pleasing design of the built environment. More than fifty scientists from various disciplines are currently researching “real estate” at the FFin. Research on high-rise topics is often in the foreground.

Further information about the Frankfurt Research Institute for Architecture • Civil Engineering • Geomatics (FFin) is available on the FFin website: www.ffin.eu

Additional information:

• Practical implementation of the goals of the high-rise plan (soon)
• High-rise development plan 2021
• Questions and answers about the Frankfurt skyline

Around ten new high-rise buildings are built in Frankfurt every year.