Mayor Feldmann is pleased about district revival
(kus) Eleven months after the laying of the foundation stone, the City of Frankfurt and the developer OFB Projektentwicklung are celebrating the next festive occasion with guests from politics, business and society: the Kornmarkt Arkaden on the site of the former Federal Audit Office are celebrating their topping-out ceremony. The shell and roof structures are largely complete.
Lord Mayor Peter Feldmann, Manfred Dittrich, member of the OFB management team, and Martin Oster, head of the Frankfurt office of KSP Jürgen Engel Architekten, addressed the numerous visitors. Michael Büge, senior foreman at Züblin, gave the traditional topping-out speech.
Feldmann emphasized the special significance of the site in his address: "Over the past few months, we have been able to witness wonderfully how history and the present merge on this construction site. The Kornmarkt Arkaden combine historic preservation and modern architecture and, with a mix of uses including hotel, office, residential and retail, provide the basis for a lively new urban quarter."
In addition to the hotel, which will be operated by the Motel One Group with 470 rooms at the western tip of the site, 21 apartments will be built on an area of 1900 square metres. 8900 square metres are earmarked for offices. Of this, KUCERA, Rechtsanwälte und Steuerberater Partnerschaft mbB rents around 2000 square metres in the east wing. Currently, the entire project has an occupancy rate of about 60 percent.
In the past months, the demolition, special civil engineering as well as shell construction work on the site was carried out under difficult conditions with as little vibration, noise and dust as possible. An elaborate steel securing structure was installed to preserve the historic façade components. Dittrich thanked the builders and was pleased with the progress of the construction work: "The narrow construction site, framed by highly frequented streets, the tramway and the theatre tunnel, poses a challenge for the construction site logistics. Our sincere thanks therefore go today to our dedicated construction experts, who have ensured the progress of construction work on the Kornmarkt Arkaden in the most difficult conditions over the past few months. Following the strengthening of the supporting structure and the renovation of the existing façades, work can soon begin on the interior fittings in the listed buildings. For the hotel building and the apartments, the facade work and the interior fittings have already begun. Thus, we are confident that the Kornmarkt Arkaden can be completed as planned in autumn 2018."
Architect Oster once again added the special features of the project: "During the entire project period, intensive consultations are taking place with the representatives of the monument authorities. The preservation of parts of the Federal Court of Auditors in accordance with the preservation order and the simultaneous revitalization and urban upgrading of the area through architecturally modern new buildings, is a challenge that we are happy to take on. We are all the more pleased that we can already clearly see today what special character the Kornmarkt Arkaden will have."
In his topping-out speech, senior foreman Büge traditionally thanked all those involved for the trust they had placed in him, asked for blessings on this building and then ceremoniously hoisted the wreath.
