Building work on the Airrail Center at Frankfurt Airport, a 660-meter long property consisting of offices, two hotels and retail, will begin this year. This was announced by Eckart John Freyend, Chairman of the Board of Directors of IVG Immobilien AG, and Wilhelm Bender, Chairman of the Executive Board of Fraport AG, at a press conference at the Frankfurt Airport Club yesterday. The project volume is around €600 million.
Project partners IVG and Fraport obtained the Hilton International for the Airrail Center Frankfurt. Hilton will operate two hotels at the Airrail Center: a high class Hilton Hotel with 247 rooms and a mid-market Hilton Garden Inn with 314 rooms. Together, both hotels cover 30,000 m² of the 59,000-m² lease space in the first section of the building. The contract with Hilton International is for 20 years and commences on completion of the first section of the building at the beginning of 2009. In addition to the hotels, 28,000 m² of office and 1,000 m² of retail space is available in the first section of the Airrail Center building. 5,000 m² of the office space has already been let to international users, meaning that 60% of the first building section has been let in advance.
"Our talks with renowned international companies for further office space in the Airrail Center are also at an advanced stage. Concrete negotiations are currently being held for 35,000 m² of the office space. We expect new contracts to be concluded shortly," explained John von Freyend. The size and architecture of the Airrail Center will shape the appearance of Frankfurt Airport. Its future users will benefit from the mobility advantages of this unique transport hub. Nowhere else in Europe do more than 300 million travellers come together each year 52 million by airplanes, 7 million on the rails and 270 million on the roads. "The Airrail Center combines the highest level of functionality and cosmopolitanism with the appropriate ambience. It is real estate for the 21st century, which sets new standards in terms of technology and aesthetics", said Manfred Schölch, Vice Chairman of the Executive Board of Fraport AG, describing the excellent position of the project. As a member of the Executive Board, Schölch is not only responsible for the expansion of Frankfurt Airport but his responsibilities also include the Airrail Center. For Dr. Bender, the Airrail Center marks "another important step on the way to becoming an airport city". "The successful marketing of this key property shows that our international airport is attractive and also strengthens our position on the capital market." The project volume of the 660-metre long property is around €600 million. The net lease space is around 130,000 m², of which 95,000 m² is office space, 30,000 m² is hotel space and 5,000 m² is retail and gastronomy space.
Source: IVG Immobilien
