EXPERT VIEW   City of Frankfurt: Gateway into MIPIM 2012's Country of Honour by Petra Roth, Mayor of the City of Frankfurt

This year’s MIPIM is particularly auspicious for the City of Frankfurt, as this is the first time Germany has been named ‘Country of Honour’, with all the special attention and focus on our nation’s companies and projects this entails. This applies especially for the City of Frankfurt as our joint stand with 22 partner firms is exhibiting some of the most fascinating real estate projects taking place in the Country of Honour. These include the MainTor project from DIC Asset AG that has been nominated for the annual MIPIM Award. Extending over 100,000 sq.m., MainTor will not only alter Frankfurt’s future appearance, it will also create an additional access route to the city and an important new link for the city’s entire population to the river Main.

The Kulturcampus Frankfurt is another project in our Bockenheim quarter that symbolises Frankfurt’s innovation as a real estate location. It will house an academy for dance, music and other art forms. At the same time we are creating, on the area formerly used by the Goethe-University, a centrally-located energy-efficient model district, which should point the way forward in terms of new forms of mobility. The Cultural Campus is a vital city development project, directly related to the new Goethe-University at the Campus Westend. With this project Frankfurt will make a quantum leap in terms of the city’s educational and cultural policy but also in terms of housing and accommodation in many walks of life. Another fascinating project presented on the Frankfurt MIPIM 2012 stand is the DomRömer historical re-creation, which is destined to take the city centre back to its past roots. Between the Cathedral and City Hall we are re-creating the historic district as the central point that it was - and will be in the future, a setting off point for new paths down to the river Main. Frankfurt’s partner companies will also be presenting the Europaviertel development to visitors - a brand new, modern city district for the City of Frankfurt, where its Skyline Plaza will provide a whole new quality and level of shopping and leisure activities. Last but not least, in terms of dynamism and economic ‘clout’, Airport City with its unique project ‘The Squaire’ will be represented. A real estate location is growing up all around the Frankfurt International Airport, which will fulfil the needs of numerous companies that rely on state-or-the are connectivity to the world’s markets. With direct connections between air, rail and motorway networks, Airport City offers international firms a truly unique office location - with plenty of potential development space still to be exploited.

The projects I’ve mentioned provide not only clear proof of the vitality, versatility and energy of the City of Frankfurt – they also symbolise our city’s sustainability, competitiveness and viability for the future. The urgent task of urban and real estate companies in the future is to create an urban living space with a maximum of quality of life. Against this background, it is important for cities with a strong international character, like Frankfurt, to take up new ideas and seek sources of inspiration without sacrificing individuality. This is essential so that, also in the future, people from all over the world feel completely at home in Frankfurt.

The fact that DIC Asset’s MainTor project in Frankfurt has been nominated for the MIPIM Award perfectly symbolises our endeavours, and I would be delighted by your votes for this future-oriented and trend-setting venture. Votes can be cast online until 8 March at http://www.mipim.com/en/mipim/programme/mipim-awards-voting/, or in MIPIM itself – so that both MainTor and the City of Frankfurt are the winners of this year’s MIPIM Award.

We look forward to seeing you in Cannes!

Petra Roth, Mayor of the City of Frankfurt

To reach the City of Frankfurt please contact Ms. Sandra Plath, Head of Real Estate Management & Marketing:  
sandra.plath@frankfurt-business.net