Work starts on Skyline Plaza shopping and leisure center

Hamburg/Frankfurt, 1st June 2011 – The Skyline Plaza shopping and leisure center in Frankfurt’s Europaviertel (European Quarter) is becoming a reality. Construction work for the Skyline Plaza began today on Wednesday 1st June 2011 with the symbolic ground-breaking ceremony performed by the Head of Frankfurt’s Planning Department, Edwin Schwarz, Bernhard H. Hansen, CEO of the Vivico Management, Gerhard Dunstheimer, Deputy CEO of ECE, Dr. Bruno Ettenauer, CEO of the Board of Directors at CA Immo AG and the Managing Directors of ECE, Jens-Ulrich Maier and Dr. Andreas Mattner. On this occasion, Mr Schwarz handed over the building permit for the shopping center. The grand project encompasses an investment volume of approximately € 360 million. Spanning a sales area of 38,000 m2, the shopping center provides space for around 180 specialist shops, cafés, restaurants and service companies. The architectural highlight is the design of the external façade composed of aluminum panels by the Frankfurt architects Jourdan & Müller. Skyline Plaza is characterized by an incomparable view of the Frankfurt skyline: a 10,000 m2 large roof garden with a wide range of gastronomy and changing events is an attraction worth a visit at any time of the year. Skyline Plaza will be realized as a joint venture between ECE and Vivico and is due to open in fall 2013. The management and letting of the shopping center will remain in the hands of ECE in the long term.

Edwin Schwarz, Head of Frankfurt’s Planning Department: “The site of the former main railway freight depot, where trains were assembled and goods reloaded for over a century, will soon be attracting visitors and residents for shopping and leisure activities. This is proof of the dynamic with which Frankfurt and the Europaviertel in particular are growing. I am certain that the Skyline Plaza will become the linchpin of the Europaviertal – and therefore a further attraction in Frankfurt, which will become famous far and wide.”

Gerhard Dunstheimer, Deputy President of the ECE Management: “Frankfurt can look forward to a new, highly appealing meeting place for shopping, leisure and gastronomy. As a unique shopping experience, the Skyline Plaza will attract visitors from far outside the city’s limits and thus sustainably fortify Frankfurt’s position as a top shopping metropolis.

Bernhard H. Hansen, CEO of the Vivico Management: “I am particularly happy that we will be able to build the Skyline Plaza as a green building. In doing so, we are not only considerably increasing the desirability of the location, but also contributing significantly to the ecological balance sheet. A perfect example that fun and ecology are not necessarily opposites.”

The shopping center is part of the new Europaviertel in the west of Frankfurt. By 2019, the site of the old railway freight depot will be transformed into a new district full of offices, hotels and flats with a multitude of shopping and leisure possibilities. With its central location in the southeast of the district, the Skyline Plaza is a link between the Messe Frankfurt, the financial district and the city. The shopping center has excellent public transport connections and can also be easily reached by car. There are 2,400 parking spaces provided for the visitors and bicycle stands for approximately 170 bicycles. Within the scope of the extension works on the U5 underground line, the Skyline Plaza will have its own direct connection to the Frankfurt underground network. Based on its sustainable planning and urban integration, the Skyline Plaza was awarded the gold pre-certificate by the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB).

The letting of the shopping and leisure center is going according to plan. It has already been possible to win Hamburg-based MeridianSpa as a tenant for the 9,000 m2 fitness and wellness area in the Skyline Plaza. In terms of its size, the new facility in the Skyline Plaza will be the largest fitness and wellness center in Frankfurt. The spacious areas on the 3rd and 4th floors and on the roof as part of the roof garden will be home to a first-class facility with a wide range of fitness, wellness and body care offers.

The scope of the Skyline Plaza project will encompass the construction of the shopping center and a congress center. The congress center should offer a conference capacity for up to 2,400 people. At the end of 2010, the application for building permits was submitted to the Frankfurt building inspection board with Vivico. Negotiations are currently underway with Messe Frankfurt for the management and purchase of the congress center. The synchronized completion will be guaranteed by a shorter construction time for the congress center.