European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 10, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse The Brandenburg Cate area is one of the busiest Sites for new construction. Berlin building Boom transforming Germany a once and future capital by Ferdinand Protzman the new York times Hen communism ruled in easter Germany downtown East Berlin was a Grimy mix of Bland postwar buildings and a few scarred structures that survived from world War ii. Drab by Day dead by night the a Street epitomized the state s modest accomplishments and manifold \ failures. A. Be a. A. A a now five years after the fall of the Berlin Wall the Friedric Strasse has come to symbolize a different development the unprecedented construction Boom that reunification has brought to Germany s once and future capital. The Street pulsates around the clock to the sound of pile Drivers Buzz saws and Cement mixers. Dozens of cranes Tower Over what has become a giant construction site stretching seven blocks from the storied Border crossing at checkpoint Charlie eastward to the elevated train station., a much of the hubbub comes from the projects of some of the biggest american developers like Tishman Speyer properties which has built major projects like Chicago s Cit front the Mes Szturm in Frankfurt Europe s tallest building and the Houston based Hines group known for the galleria mails in Texas and the Northwest Center in Minneapolis. \ v there Are some three dozen major construction projects under Way or in the final planning stages in Berlin involving staggering amounts of Money. In 1993, in the City totalled $14.5 billion City . Investments of $10.4 billion Are expected this year and More than $18 billion in 1995. Those figures prompted Wolfgang Nagel the City s minister of construction to dub Berlin tie Quot world capital of. Building Quot but he says statistics alone cannot capture the significance of the the City s future. Quot Berlin is growing together in immeasurable ways on the streets the rails the Bridges Nagel said. Quot indeed construction will provide the decisive contribution to the reunification of for developers Berlin s attractiveness comes primarily trom the fact that the National government will move a by decade s end. That reinforces a belief that Berlin will again be Germany s leading City and the Gateway to expanding markets in Eastern Europe the polish Border is less than two hours away by car. How profitable the Berlin construction Renaissance will prove is an open question. There is now such a shortage of High Quality office space in Berlin that the amount of vacant space is less than 1 percent of the total. A result rental prices for offices in prime Center City Sites can reach $45 a Square foot among the highest in Germany and As much As 2g percent higher than average rents in Midtown Manhattan the costliest Market in the United states. But overbuilding is a concern. With most projects along Friedric Strasse set to be completed in 1995 and 1996, Gerald d. Hines head of Hines interests l.p., and other developers Are worried about a glut of office and commercial space and a dearth of tenants. Many projects Ace not renting space yet in the Hope that rents will Rise in the interim. -./�?�. Quot i m not prepared to speculate on when we will see the return on our investment Quot Fli Essaid. Quot but we re still involved with properties we built almost 30 years ago. If you re not in it for the Long haul then you should t be Here but it s a very dynamic City and we re betting a very Large sum on his group has invested $636 million in two projects on the Friedric Strasse to be completed Early in 1996. There Are a number of other Pitfalls in developing property in Berlin particularly in the Eastern part of the City. Investors there face the same problems of disputed ownership of property and lengthy delays in obtaining planning permission building permits and Bank financing that have slowed growth throughout Eastern Germany. A settling property claims for example by owners who were dispossessed by the nazis or communists can take months said Mark Palmer businessman and former ambassador to Hungary. Palmer is chairman of Central european Media. Enterprises which is investing $751 million in a five building Complex of offices shops and apartments at checkpoint Charlie called the american business Center. It will include a museum and memorial at the checkpoint which was the main crossing Between East and West when Berlin was divided. A Quot for one piece of land we had to Deal with 220 heirs and the site consists of 46 parcels of land Quot Palmer said. Quot i worked with my partners and three lawyers for three years to Clear up the . Subway Tram and bus links Between East and West Are being re established As rapidly As possible Nagel said. But rebuilding roads and Bridges after decades of neglect almost unavoidably causes traffic jams the worst areas Are where the Berlin Wall once divided workers put a new face on the Brandenburg cafe the Symbol of Berlin. Below diners Check one of the new cafes springing up in the Eastern Section of the City. The City like the Brandenburg Gate in the East and the potsdamer Pfautz in Western Berlin a 17-acre Plaza that was the City s Center and the busiest intersection of Europe before world War ii. The City has kept tight control of construction projects by setting strict limits on what can be built and using juries of experts to select the Best proposal for a Given site. The. Main criteria Are financial strength previous experience. Architectural excellence and a Good fit with existing i . Is. Consider the Friedrich Stadt passage project along the Friedric Strasse a six building $800 million multiuse Complex on which construction began in october 1992 and is to be finished by Spring 1995. The buildings have a City imposed height limit of about 100 feet. Two of the structures were designed by Oswald angers a leading German architect and Are being by Tishman Speyer. The others were designed by pc Cobb freed amp partners and Jean Nouvel French architect. A _ while business reasons dominate part of Berlin s allure for builders seems to be the Opportunity to make their Mark in one of the world s great cities to leave a Monument in Glass steel and stone., this is one Chance in a thousand years to rebuild a capital City Quot Hines said. Quot you won t get a Chance like l Tat Ever again. Think this is a great Opportunity to see the re establishment of a . Just 300 Yards from Berlin s Busy shopping Street the Kur Furston a Damm Hannelore Schmidt tends her Garden year round. Not Small gardens a Thorn in developers sides by Stephen Kinzer the new York times u the bustling Metropolis of Berlin has More than enough challenges to keep its politicians occupied. Giant construction projects Are under Way the government plans to move there from Bonn and Eastern Europe s convulsions Are uncomfortably dose by. But for hundreds of thousands of Berlin residents these challenges Pale into insignificance in comparison with new threats to their beloved gardens. They Are threatening to bring Down the City government and Vyvarn that if established political parties do not listen to them they will form anew one of their own. No one is taking these warnings lightly Quot what the Farmers Are to France the Small gardeners Are ,&Quot a local newspaper declared earlier this year. Taken y individually the gardeners hardly seem like revolutionaries. They Are quintessential Good citizens like Hannelore Schmidt who tends her fruit Trees Herb gardens and vegetable patches every Day even in the Winter. A a. A . Quot this Garden is the Center of my life Quot Schmidt said As she proudly pointed to her neat plot. Quot i have a close a feeling for god and think this is most parts of Germany people like Schmidt Are pillars of local life quaint symbols of self sufficiency and the nation s mythic roots in agriculture. But Schmidt has suddenly found herself cast As a Public villain. The reason is that her Garden lies in the heart of downtown Berlin just two blocks from the glittering a Kurfurst Lendam. A while a divided City lavish subsidies from Bonn kept the Standard of living there artificially High and allowed the indulgence of Many . Now those subsidies Are being smashed. Y. A As the Ity looks for new sources of income some officials Are casting their eyes longingly on the Large plots of City owned land in Chic Central boroughs like Willersdorf that have for years been leased to gardeners. Quot we can t hang on to All of our old Berlin tradition Wolfgang Nagel the City s minister of construction said in a widely publicized Magazine interview. A Quot in does t make sense Thal the Best Sites in the inner City like in Willersdorf Are being occupied Lay gardeners who pay Only a few Marks a year to use them. Why can t the City use that land to develop business and housing projects Quot Nagel s comments placed him in direct conflict with the often satirized hut nonetheless potent Kleingartne Turcin. In traditional Germany everyone is supposed to belong to least one Verein or club and none is As upstanding or As dear to the National soul As the the Small Gank mers club. ,. Because of the gardeners status As National icons ant a because Many berliners want to preserve the City s remaining Green spaces Lor environmental reasons the. Gardens Are in no danger of Quick dosing More than 80,000 families have Garden plots and another 16,000 families Are on waiting lists l eased gardens cover More than 8,800 acres 4 percent of the City s surface area. Much of this is land left undeveloped after the rubble of world War ii was cleared. Many of the younger families who lease gardens enjoy them principally As summer retreats for sunbathing and Barbecue parties. But there is still a hard Core of old timers like Schmidt who Lake their gardening Verv seriously. Wary of the gardeners political muscle Many of Nagel s own colleagues at City Hall have condemned his position. Still a Long term City plan Calls for dosing some of the downtown gardens and As Berlin grows pressure to close others is certain to increase. Wolfgang Wloczkowski n member of the City Council who wants to close Many of Berlin s gardens has calculated that closing half of them would Lead to $650 million in real estate development generating thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in tax Revenue Quot you have to ask. Yourself if you want to live in a Village or in a big City Quot Mleczkowski said. Quot i personally like being in a City. But a lot of people who came Here Over the last 40 years did t come Here to be in a City. They came Here to escape the draft or pay lower taxes or just to flip put. Their heart is still Back in the Small others say Berlin should maintain All the Green space if can even if it Means a loss in economic growth "7 he relatively High percentage of Green area in Berlin is one of the City s most attractive features Quot said Martin a Janicke who Heads an environmental research group at the free University Quot to give up these areas for a development would be Short sighted. To would pay a High Price for . A 16 the stars and stripes monday october 10, 1994 the stars and stripes 17
