Public participation in the planned new high-rise building in Kaiser-Karree in Frankfurt’s banking district has been successfully completed. As project partners Commerz Real and Tishman Speyer report, almost 350 Frankfurt residents and 175 people contributed their ideas and opinions on the design of the building ensemble between Kaiserstraße 28 and Neue Mainzer Straße 31 online as part of an information event on 11 September 2024. The focus was particularly on sustainable construction and the consideration of social and cultural uses. Among the wishes for the plinth area of the high-rise building, gastronomy and cultural offerings were most frequently mentioned. It was also important for many participants to design the public areas at the neighbouring wall system using planting and so-called shading measures. The architectural competition, intended as the starting point for the development plan procedure, was recently launched, and the winners will be selected in February 2025.
We look forward to active participation and creative ideas. The high level of identification of the population with the Frankfurt skyline in particular made us feel positive.
Many have expressed a desire to realise the Kaiser-Karree project in harmony with the urban environment, architecture and historical circumstances. “The suggestions are now being incorporated into further planning to ensure a balanced and future-oriented development of the area,” adds Florian Reiff, Senior Managing Director Germany at Tishman Speyer.
The planned high-rise building at Kaiser-Karree is the first project in which public participation was carried out in accordance with the new requirements of the high-rise development plan of the city of Frankfurt am Main. The currently existing complex comprises around 8,000 square metres of rental space and was used by Commerzbank until the end of 2022. Currently, the spaces are being used for cultural activities, events and gastronomy as part of the “Neue Kaiser” (New Emperor) pop-up creative project with the participation of the Frankfurt Opera, the Frankfurter Neue Küche (Frankfurt New Cuisine) and other protagonists, making them accessible to the public.
For the further development of the area, Commerz Real, the asset and investment managers of Commerzbank, and project developer and investment manager Tishman Speyer have entered into a joint venture. The current plans include the construction of a 195-metre-high high-rise building that carefully integrates the listed existing buildings. The gross floor area - estimated on the basis of initial fictitious designs - could be around 66,300 square metres.
The results of the citizen participation are available as documentation on the project website www.kaiser-karree.de.
Commerz Real AG is the asset manager of the Commerzbank Group and has 50 years of international market experience. The company combines extensive know-how in asset management with broad structuring expertise and uses this expertise to develop tangible asset-oriented fund products and individual investment solutions in the real estate and infrastructure sectors. As a leasing service provider of Commerzbank, Commerz Real Mobilienleasing also offers needs-based leasing concepts.
Since 2025, the Commerzbank Group’s asset management holdings have been bundled with Commerz Real AG. In addition to Commerz Real’s brands and products, these include the Aquila Capital investment company with a focus on sustainable tangible asset investments in the area of energy infrastructure and Yellowfin as a boutique for liquid investment strategies. Under the umbrella of Commerz Real AG, a total of around 1,000 employees manage assets of around EUR 55 billion at around 20 locations.
A Commerzbank Group company