The United States and Asia have laid the groundwork. Hotel and office towers of a dizzying height are perfectly common there and have been for decades. Residential towers with an unhindered panoramic view and first class features followed suit, built in top quality locations. Investors, construction companies and architects were surpassing each other in a fiercely competitive battle. Futuristic high-rises gave direction for a modern, urban style of living.
Towers in the Pipeline
It was only a matter of time until this trend spread to Europe. London has more than two dozen skyscrapers lined up for construction. In Germany, Frankfurt am Main is the only city able to compete in the raising of multi-storey buildings. Known as Mainhattan, the city – having obtained building licences for high-rises right in the middle of the town – has succeeded in gaining an international reputation as a financial centre.
The same trend that conquered London has also reached Berlin. Planned projects, scheduled for realisation within the next few years, exceed almost every expectation. For “native” Berlins as well as visitors, they will offer a new sense of urban life with all of its benefits.
The Trend of Urban Living Can’t Be Detained
Berlin, too, has been affected by a high-rise fever. Since the fall of the Wall of Berlin and the transition of the German seat of government, Berlin has become rather alluring as Germany’s aspiring capital. Well-developed infrastructure, up-and-coming business activity, relatively moderate costs of living, a multifaceted cultural life and the substantial building stock have contributed to forever free the city of its “insular” existence. It has become Germany’s second greatest high-rise city. Local and national as well as international construction firms and investors are downright enchanted by Berlin’s manifold charms. The motivation to raise towers in Berlin, however, comes from the growth of the property market since 2009. Investors have to pay in advance but – depending on the nature of the project – they can expect their investment to pay off long-term.
For that reason, more and more real estate developers jump on the bandwagon of urban living, undertaking worthwhile endeavours in the centre of Berlin – at the Steglitzer Kreisel, at the former Postscheckamt in Kreuzberg or at the word-famous Alexanderplatz, to name but a few.
More than 20 individual high-rise projects are in the making. At the Sonnenallee in Neukölln, the highest Hotel tower will be built with a height of 175 metres – the “Estrel Tower” will be the biggest hotel complex in Germany, with hotelier Ekkehard Streletzki planning to expand his pre-existing hotel by 814 rooms situated on 46 floors.
Two multi-storey buildings will be put up next to the O2 World indoor arena with a height of 86 respectively 95 metres, containing 420 flats and 77 furnished apartments with room service at its finest. Rental prices range between nine and fifteen euros per square metre. Investors are quoted a purchasing price of 2.500 to 8.000 euros per square metre.
Alexanderplatz – The Days as Berlin’s Unloved Child Are Numbered
With a height of 150 metres, Germany’s highest rising residential tower will emerge at the Alexanderplatz, planned by the US American real estate developer Hines, to be built to a design of his compatriot, renown architect Frank Gehry. Construction of the 250 million residential tower with its 39 storeys will begin in 2015, with the building being adjacent to the shopping centre “Die Mitte”. The period fixed for construction are two and a half years so that residents should be able to move in in 2017. Already the residential tower is a widely discussed topic as the new landmark of Berlin.
Just like other investors, Hines’ real estate company focuses on redesigning the Alexanderplatz, a place that has not been considered especially popular in the past. In collaboration with the Berlin Senate, Masterplan Alexanderplatz has been brought into being based on a design of Professor Hans Kollhoff. While it cannot be realised in its entirety, it places emphasis on interesting aspects and bestows a new value on the address of Alexanderplatz. According to the senate, there are approximately 20 projects centred upon the Alexanderplatz in a state of planning or construction.
