The future of the vacant site at Opernplatz 2 is still unclear. But now new developments seem to be in the making around the planning of an approximately 60 meter high-rise building. The real estate company SIGNA Prime Selection AG had acquired the site diagonally opposite the Alte Oper in Frankfurt from Allianz Real Estate GmbH in 2019 and has since been planning the development of a high-rise building at this location. However, Frankfurt’s Head of Planning was rather critical of SIGNA’s plans for a long time. “We are skeptical about the feasibility of a high-rise at Opernplatz,” their spokesman Mark Gellert still let it be known in the spring. The Opernplatz is a “sensitive location” where all the effects of a development must be carefully examined. Above all, they wanted to prevent the construction of a high-rise building from overshadowing the square at the Alte Oper.

After SIGNA complied with the City of Frankfurt’s request last year to keep the Karstadt store on the busy shopping street Zeil open until at least 2025, the planning department agreed in return to re-examine the plans for a high-rise at Opernplatz 2. In any case, the site is located in an area that is to be examined for the update of the high-rise master plan. So now it says from the planning department: “We have promised an open review of the site and are in the political vote.” The SPD sees “advantages and disadvantages” of a high-rise building at Opernplatz, according to its parliamentary group leader Ursula Busch. The FDP parliamentary group in the Römer, on the other hand, was largely positive: “The skyline would get a conclusion at this point,” said its planning policy spokesman Sebastian Papke.

However, the city would still have to clarify questions about the general effect of a 60-meter-high high-rise at this location. Would the striking silhouette of the Frankfurt Skyline be extended at all by such a “stepped solution” or would this not unnecessarily risk endangering the residential quality of the Opernplatz, which is so popular among Frankfurt residents? To prevent this, the new high-rise building, if realized, would be moved as far south as possible next to the Bürohaus an der Alten Oper known as the “Citibank high-rise”. Access to Opernplatz would then be guaranteed via a lower, approximately seven-story building base. The tower would thus resemble a standing L.

Whether it is possible to realize the high-rise building planned by SIGNA should be clarified by early summer at the latest, according to Mike Josef’s speaker Marcus Gwechenberger. If the planning department decides against it again, the originally planned eight-story new building will be realized “quickly” on the basis of the valid development plan.