A few months after the start of construction of the "Food Garden", the topping-out ceremony for this unique project was celebrated. The opening of the new "Food Garden" with a total of eight food outlets is planned for spring 2025.
The Main-Taunus-Zentrum - one of the largest and highest-turnover shopping centers in Germany - is being supplemented by a new highlight with the "Food Garden": a new lively and urban center with a high-quality, varied gastronomy and food offer is being built in the middle of the open-air shopping center in Sulzbach near Frankfurt am Main. Five
free-standing restaurant buildings with partly covered, partly open terraces, attractively landscaped outdoor areas and sophisticated architecture are being created.
The new "Food Garden" will be built on an area of around 9,000 m² with around 4,000 m² of rental space in the heart of the shopping center in place of a former department store building. The aim of the project is to supplement the high-quality tenant mix with additional highlights and an extensive gastronomic offer, to further increase the quality of stay and length of stay in the Main-Taunus-Zentrum
and to strengthen its character as an open, urban destination center. A total of eight tenants will enhance the quality of the MTZ's gastronomic offering. With the Food Garden, the existing unique selling points of the Main-Taunus-Zentrum with its greater gastronomic expertise will significantly strengthen the regional appeal of the MTZ.
Wood as the construction method for the project - A forest in the middle of the center
Wood is used as the main building material in the construction of the new "Food Garden" - currently one of the most sustainable solutions in this area. As a general timber construction company, Kai Laumann is one of the most successful and experienced companies in the region when it comes to ecological and sustainable construction. The basic structures of the five "Food Garden" buildings consist of an innovative and solid timber modular construction system, CLT (Cross Laminated Timber) for short. This sustainable construction method offers ecological advantages over other building materials and leaves a small carbon footprint.
One 1m³ of spruce wood stores 1t of CO²
1,300 m³ of spruce wood is used in the "Food Garden". In this case, a total of 1,300 tons of CO² are stored. This amount is roughly equivalent to the amount of CO² that an average car would consume if it were to drive around the world 162 times. Timber construction has other positive characteristics - it can be used to create highly efficient buildings. The construction method can be used in such a way that the
solid wood can make the most of its natural, climate-regulating abilities: Temperature and humidity remain at a comfortable level, providing an ideal indoor atmosphere. "We are actively contributing to climate protection with this construction method. The "Food Garden" is an exciting and challenging project that will be a real asset to the Main-Taunus-Zentrum," says Kai Laumann, general contractor. "I am delighted that the construction work for the "Food Garden", which is already fully let, is on schedule and that we can celebrate the topping-out ceremony today. The project is an impressive example of what the subsequent use of the former site, which was home to a department store until 2021, can look like. This is what real teamwork looks like!"
The project is also unique in terms of sustainability: "The Food Garden is being built entirely in solid wood," says Center Manager Daniel Quaas. Deutsche EuroShop and a closed-end real estate fund are investing around 28 million euros in the new project as owners. ECE Marketplaces, which is also responsible for the operation and leasing of the center, is responsible for the planning and implementation.
The Main-Taunus-Zentrum, which opened in 1964, has over 170 stores on a sales area of over 90,000 m², including concepts such as Apple, Anson's, Breuninger, Hollister and Zara as well as a multiplex cinema. Attached you will find the names and descriptions of the new tenants in the future "Food Garden".
