Offenbach: Major construction projects on the market square are in full swing

• fromEast Tinç

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The parking garage should be ready in summer 2022, the former City Center and the western part of the former Toys-R-Us building by the end of 2023.

Tarek Al-Wazir (Greens) stands in front of dozens of metal bars in the parking garage on Berliner Strasse. “It has always been an unreal place,” says the Hessian Minister of Economics and looks at the bare concrete ceilings on the construction site. It was the cheapest, but hardly anyone was in it “because they were more like dreams of fear”. The building has now been completely gutted, and there is a renovation concept for each individual component. “It gets a new shell inside and out,” says Michael Dietrich. The investor is out on Thursday with Al-Wazir and representatives of the Allianz für Wohnen in Offenbach’s inner city to report on the progress of the individual construction projects in Berliner Straße.

Dietrich has taken care of the “two ugliest buildings” on Berliner Strasse on the market square. In addition to the parking garage, there is the former Toys-R-Us building directly next to it, which has already been demolished and the city center where the bridge was torn down and the building was gutted. “We have already completed the increase,” reports Dietrich. “If nothing dramatic happens, we assume that we will be finished by the end of next year.” The building will be rented by the Achat hotel group. The arcade will move to the first floor, the fast food restaurant will remain on the ground floor. More gastronomy is to follow.

The parking garage on the opposite side of the street will shine in new splendor from next summer. “What I’m proud of is that the parking garage no longer looks like a parking garage,” says Dietrich. A high-quality clinker facade is planned, and greening is also planned. Of what was once 750 parking spaces, 360 have remained for cars, 190 of which are public, 170 of which are for the apartments and commercial units that are to be built next door to a 19-storey high-rise residential building. There are also 600 bicycle parking spaces.

A total of 200 apartments, 40 of which are for students, are planned. “It will be a pure tenement house,” says Dietrich. The apartments are not subsidized, it is not yet clear how high the rents will be. However, the residential high-rise will be built with a one-year delay and should not be finished until the end of 2025. Then the kindergarten should move back to the top and will have four groups instead of two.

Before that, the western construction section will be built from spring 2022 and will be finished by the end of 2023. The building is to be used for offices, and the discount grocery store Lidl will move in below. Al-Wazir believes that the right mix of living, retail and culture will make the city center of the future. With the redevelopment of the market square, which should be completed in the middle of next year, urban repairs will be carried out, which will bring revitalization.

The challenges for the redesign of the urban centers remain, however, in view of the many vacancies – not only in Offenbach. “The decisive factor is no longer sales per square meter, but experience per square meter,” says Markus Weinbrenner, General Manager of the Offenbach Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IHK).

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