Le mie ricette per la real estate community
In the presence of a numerous guests, the project partners STRABAG Real Estate (SRE) and ECE yesterday laid the foundation stone for the major project MesseCity Köln in the Cologne district of Deutz. Approximately nine months after the first groundbreaking, it was up to Lady Mayor Henriette Reker, Dr. Thomas Birtel, Chairman of the Board of STRABAG SE, ECE- Managing Director Dr. Andreas Mattner and Marcus Nagel, Chief Executive Officer of Zurich Gruppe Deutschland, Hans-Joachim Lehmann, Managing Director at HIH Real Estate GmbH, as well as Torsten Kuttig and Rainer M. Schäfer, Managing Directors of MesseCity Köln GmbH, today to take up the spade at an official ceremony. The foundation stone and the traditional “time capsule” will be added to the foundations of the building by the contractor Ed.Züblin AG during the course of the project.
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“The MesseCity Köln development is not only a great benefit for Deutz, it is a benefit for the whole city. It will showcase the entire potential of the area on the right bank of the Rhine as an attractive office location, where a premium office property is built which will accommodate several thousands of workplaces. Bringing Zurich Versicherung here will add to Cologne’s reputation as a leading insurance location. The new city district is another important milestone of the implementation of the urban masterplan. We are looking forward to seeing MesseCity completed. Besides offices, it will also accommodate hotels, restaurants, retailers, and leisure facilities. The City of Cologne will follow up and support the development of the new city district through its individual stages with great interest,” said Henriette Reker, Lady Mayor of Cologne.
“The foundation stone we laid today also marks the beginning of a new part of Cologne,” said Mr. Birtel pleased. “Boasting an investment of 750 million euros, MesseCity is one of the largest project developments in the corporate history of STRABAG. Therefore, I am very pleased with the progress of the construction of the buildings and that they will also grow in height very soon.”
“The consistent progress of this important urban development project wouldn’t have been possible without the commitment of the two project partners and the excellent collaboration with the City of Cologne in a spirit of partnership,” Dr. Mattner emphasized.
“The new headquarters in Cologne is an important step for Zurich. With the buildings themselves and their interior we will provide modern and attractive working environments for our employees. We will benefit from the excellent infrastructure and the good transport connections to our head office in Frankfurt. We will promote Cologne as an insurance location and help it gain more importance – even in times of digitization, said Marcus Nagel, Chief Executive Officer of Zurich Gruppe.”
The first phase of the construction on the 5.4 hectares site between Deutz/Messe railway station and Koelnmesse includes the buildings West 1 to 3, which will be used by Zurich Gruppe Deutschland. The insurance will accommodate 2,700 employees at this urban location. The first buildings are expected to be completed by the end of 2019.
Renowned tenants confirmed
Zurich Gruppe Deutschland has already been confirmed as one of the major tenants. The insurance has leased approximately 60,000 m² of office space in the western part of the district. The three buildings at MesseCity to be leased by the company, which include an office tower with 60 meters in height, have been designed by ASTOC / HPP planning offices. The façade design was developed by KSP Jürgen Engel Architekten.
A hotel is currently being built on construction site West 4, adjacent to the so-called “Messebalkon”. This seven-story building will house a Motel One with more than 300 rooms and approximately 170 studios and apartments of Adina Apartment Hotels. It was designed by ASTOC / HPP with a facade concept by gmp Architekten (Gerkan, Marg and Partner). The construction start has been scheduled for 2018, completion is expected for 2020.
Before the construction start of the first building, Warburg-HIH Invest had taken over shares of the property company. The real estate investment manager will take over the construction sites West 1 to 3, where the new buildings for Zurich Gruppe are currently being built, on behalf of institutional investors.
A major project in the heart of Cologne
With MesseCity Köln, the project partners SRE and ECE will construct 135,000m² of floor space in the Cologne district of Deutz on the right side of the Rhine. The most important part of the urban development, which was designed by ASTOC Architects and Planners, is a vivid area with diverse buildings and opportunities to turn the district into a prime address. With this concept in mind, the jury of the facade competition in March 2016 chose four different architectural offices as winners. Their designs were the foundation for the development of the project.
Six 7- to16-story buildings will be built between entrance Süd of Koelnmesse and ICE Railway Station Deutz. They will house offices, hotels, restaurants, and small retailers that will serve as local suppliers for the district. In addition, two parking garages totaling 1,000 parking spaces will be built.
The buildings of Messecity Köln will be set around the central so-called “Messebalkon”, which will become the new focal point of the district. The new urban district with a prominent silhouette in the middle of Cologne will be highly appealing due to the heterogeneous mix of building sizes, building types, many green areas, and excellent public transport.
Photos (Daams Fotografie), and visualization (KSP/SRE/ECE/HH-Vision)
Foundation stone ceremony (left to right):
Marcus Nagel, Chief Executive Officer of Zurich Gruppe Deutschland
Hans-Joachim Lehmann, Managing Director at HIH Real Estate GmbH
Rainer M. Schäfer, Managing Director of MesseCity Köln GmbH
Henriette Reker; Lady Mayor of Cologne
Torsten Kuttig, Managing Director of MesseCity Köln GmbH
Dr. Thomas Birtel, Chairman of the Board of STRABAG SE
Dr. Andreas Mattner, ECE Managing Director
Source : Company
