Skyline Plaza (Frankfurt)

The Skyline Plaza ( former name: Westend Plaza, Urban Entertainment Center ) is a complex of buildings in Frankfurt am Main, the building is divided into four parts:

• Shopping and leisure center
• Kongresshaus
• Hotel Tower ( 113 meters, for the time being reset )
• Office tower ( 212 meters, for the time being reset )

Construction of the shopping center and the congress center was June 1, 2011, the separate opening of the shopping center on 29 August 2013. The office tower is initially not built due to lack of an anchor tenant, the building of the hotel tower, were recognized.

Location

The oval building plot is a 47,000 -square-foot section of the east situated former Frankfurt main freight station in the Gallus district and dominant input part of the development area 'European Quarter. In the north of the property is adjacent to the exhibition center, on the south by the Güterplatz on Mainzer Landstrasse.

History

The first plans of Urban Entertainment Center ( UEC ) American-style date from the late nineties, after the German railway had decided in 1996 to close the main freight yard for lack of utilization and to market the site. The focus of the UEC should stand as a cultural attraction of a musical theater Stella AG.

The UEC was originally planned by a consortium that included not only the owner of the land, the former EIM and today Vivico the Canadian real estate company TrizecHahn. The time amounted to 750 million euro investment UEC should consist of a six- to eleven -story block building, which is a total of two high-rise buildings, an office and a hotel tower, surmounted. After specializing in Musical Stella AG went bankrupt in 2002 and TrizecHahn withdrew from Germany, the original town planning controversial concept could not be realized.

Which specializes in shopping centers ECE group and Vivico designed the new UEC. The UEC is now a planetarium, a multiplex cinema and other leisure facilities including an ice rink or an event plaza should be located. To the new attractions finance, investors wanted to expand the retail space by 30 percent. This was rejected by a majority of the Frankfurt city council and referred to the compliance with the existing urban development contract from 2001.

In March 2008, provided the investors Vivico and ECE as well as Frankfurt's Mayor Petra Roth and Baudezernent Edwin Black ( both CDU ) before the in "Skyline Plaza" renamed project on the real estate fair MIPIM in Cannes. Instead of the previously planned multiplex cinemas there should now be a second congress house next to the dominant shopping center for the adjacent exhibition center and other facilities for wellness and leisure; a leisure attraction with a national appeal was not provided. For a total investment of 330 million euros the hotel tower, the shopping center and the congress center should be built at the same time, the construction of the office tower was initially postponed.

In September 2008, the Frankfurt city council adopted a supplementary agreement to the urban development contract in 2001. With the approval of the present preliminary construction could be a positive decision by the magistrate.

In October 2010 Vivico and ECE lodged a planning application for the shopping center, a planning application for the Kongresshaus followed in December. At the same time it was announced that the company MeridianSpa will operate the 9,000 square foot fitness and spa area in Skyline Plaza. In March 2011, the City of Frankfurt issued the building permit for the project. On 1 June 2011 the ground was broken for the structurally related complexes, shopping center and the congress center, at the same time gave the planning department Edwin Black is the final construction permit to the investors.

The shopping center opened in August 2013. Within a few months complained located there retailers about lack of customer frequency that is substantially lower than expectations. The center management stated that there had been no predictions in advance, and the frequency was satisfactory.

The building

Shopping center

With an approved sales area of ​​around 38,000 sqm and 180 stores emerged to August 2013 in the southern part of the system for a medium-size Frankfurt standards mall. Wellness and fitness take a further 9,000 m², gastronomy 4,500 m². Another feature of the Skyline Plaza is a 11,000 m² large roof garden with free things to do, from the view derives its object name. Was waived by the already adopted in September 2008 supplementary agreement to the urban Treaty of 2001 that the mall a residential share of 30 percent was realized. The required residential component may now also arise in the hotel tower or on the adjacent Europa-Allee. The project developer Vivico and ECE rated for both projects a construction cost of 360 million euros, of which 40 million attributable to the Congress House.

Congress Hall Cape Europe

Located north-east of the shopping center Kongresshaus called cape Europe has 14 meeting rooms with a large hall for 1,000 people and a small room for over 600 people. A total of 7,700 sq ft of meeting space that can accommodate up to 2,400 people are available.

Messe Frankfurt will acquire its second congress house plus land share for an undisclosed price from the investors ECE and Vivico and operate at your own risk. The investors had previously committed against the city of Frankfurt to construct the two buildings simultaneously and operate.

The cape Europe to go in June 2014. It is the only building of the Messe Frankfurt is located outside the area fairgrounds.

Hotel high-rise Tower 2

In January 2008, signed by Global Hyatt Corporation and Vivico an operating agreement for the proposed hotel tower (working title: Tower 2 ). The Grand Hyatt Frankfurt was as a 5- star plus luxury hotel with 405 rooms and suites, restaurants, bars, a ballroom, a fitness and wellness area as well as a publicly accessible SkyLounge the top floor planned. By dispensing with the apartments originally planned in the top six floors of the tower should not, as provided in the skyscraper outline plan of the city of Frankfurt in 1998, will be 160 meters high but only 113 meters.

In May 2009, the architecture firm UNStudio has been awarded as the winner of a limited architectural competition for their design of an elegantly curved hotel tower. According to the original plan, the hotel should be opened back in 2012, but later no longer Baustarttermin was called.

In May 2013 Hyatt announced the withdrawal from the management contract for the hotel. The project has been put back from investors for financing reasons.

Office tower Tower 1

At the northern corner of the site, opposite the square of the unit with the skyscrapers Castor and Pollux, to even the 212 -meter-high Tower 1 mark the entrance to the European quarter. The office tower designed by the French architect Jean Nouvel is planned with 51 above-ground and four underground floors. The gross floor area of ​​95,000 m². The Tower 1 is initially not built according to the investor Vivico in the absence of an anchor tenant, planning However, it continues.

Transport links

The Plaza Skyline is many areas of the city of Frankfurt connected as by public transport. In about 600m Distance to subway line U4, the tram lines 16 and 17 bus lines 32, 50 and the night bus run n83 ( Festhalle / Messe ) and the tram lines 11 and 21 ( station Güterplatz ).