Status: 04.07.2021 8:14 a.m.
It’s getting tight in Frankfurt am Main. Over 750,000 people live on almost 250 square kilometers. A problem that is not only known to the Main metropolis. Can new high-rise apartment buildings provide a remedy?
It feels almost surreal when the construction site elevator rushes up the 28 floors outside within seconds, past modern glass balconies. Shortly afterwards, the view of the Frankfurt skyline becomes clear. Downstairs, construction workers are installing the first plants vertically on the outer facade – the “green carpets” are planned up to the huge roof terrace at a height of almost a hundred meters.
The name of the new residential high-rise is therefore heavenly: “Eden Tower”. 263 apartments with up to four rooms have been built in the Europaviertel. The first should be able to move in at the end of the year. City councilor Markus Frank enthusiastically holds up his cell phone and takes photos: “Breathtaking.”
Luxury tower with apartments for the wealthy
“Eden” is not the first residential tower that is currently changing the Frankfurt skyline. In the city center you can also move into one of the 147 exclusive high-rise rental apartments in the newly built “Omniturm”. The next major construction site is in the immediate vicinity: In March of this year, the foundation stone for four high-rise buildings was laid here – the ensemble is simply called “Four”. Among other things, 600 apartments are to be built there by 2024.
But what looks spectacular also costs a fortune. The square meter price for buying a piece of paradise in “Eden” starts at 10,000 euros. Frankfurt’s head of planning, Mike Josef, thinks that this is definitely the future of living for a certain segment, but not for providing the broader population with living space.
Rental prices in Germany remain at record high
Such modern high-rise buildings will therefore not provide relief on the rental market. The President of the German Tenants’ Association, Lukas Siebenkotten, is convinced of this: “We need adequate living space that meets demand and is affordable.” The situation on the housing market is now desolate in many regions in Germany. Rents have been rising for years, especially in large cities. In first place is Munich with 18.48 euros per square meter, followed by Frankfurt and Stuttgart with 15.75 euros and 14.74 euros per square meter. In fourth and fifth place are Berlin and Hamburg with 13.68 and 13.50 euros per square meter, respectively.
According to a study by the union-affiliated Hans Böckler Foundation, almost half of the approximately 8.4 million households that rent in Germany’s major cities have to spend more than 30 percent of their net income to pay their rent including heating. According to the German Tenants’ Association, there is a shortage of more than 1.5 million affordable apartments. He calls for a housing offensive, among other things with more funds for social housing and a multi-year nationwide rent freeze.
Around 600,000 euros for around 60 square meters: the apartments in the “Eden Tower” are not for those on a tight budget.
Image: dpa
Customers from the Asian and Arab countries
High-rise residential buildings such as the “Eden Tower” with concierge service and roof terrace do not provide any remedy, says Frankfurt architect Stefan Forster. The buyers are often wealthy foreign customers. They are less concerned with increasing the value of the property than with a secure investment. As a result, buyers often do not rent the apartments, and many are empty.
In the new “Eden Tower” too, 60 percent of the apartments have already been sold and a further 15 percent have been reserved. According to the Belgian project developer, the customers primarily come from the Arab and Asian regions. The green carpet of plants, which is supposed to cover 20 percent of the high-rise apartment building, is particularly popular. 200,000 plants should ensure a good microclimate. They survive thanks to the built-in mineral and irrigation system.
Green facade of the “Eden Tower”: for some nothing more than “a marketing gimmick”.
Image: dpa
Plant facades as a marketing gimmick?
In principle, plants on external facades could contribute to improving the air quality, but the ecological added value is small, and it is often a question of “greenwashing”, judges the Association for the Environment and Nature Conservation Germany (BUND). The plants on the wall often lack a certain depth in the earth to root, but this is necessary for important soil organisms to settle.
Architect Forster is also convinced: “The greening is a marketing gimmick”. This has no real ecological benefit, because the energy required to attach the plants and maintain them exceeds their usefulness. There is no doubt that plants a hundred meters above the ground are an eye-catcher, just like the new high-rises themselves. But they are only the future of living for the well-heeled. For everyone else, it will remain an urban, priceless high-rise space.