Completion of Frankfurt's first timber-hybrid office building planned for mid-2024

In the first weeks of the year, UBM Development and Paulus Immobilien signed the lease agreements for the entire retail space of Timber Pioneer in Frankfurt's up-and-coming Europaviertel. The food retailer Netto Marken-Discount has leased almost 990 square metres for 15 years and the Frankfurt fitness chain FITSEVENELEVEN 540 square metres for 12 years. A rental agreement for just under 10,000 square metres was signed in March last year with the capital management company Universal Investment as the anchor tenant. This leaves only around 4,600 square metres of office space available in the entire building.

"With the allocation of the retail space, more than 70 per cent of Timber Pioneer has already been let before completion," says Bertold Wild, CEO of UBM Development Deutschland GmbH. "This confirms our sustainability strategy. Timber construction is no longer a gimmick, but a reliable guarantee for letting success."

"The many companies that have settled here make Frankfurt's Europaviertel an excellent location for us as an exclusive fitness chain with special offers, particularly in the area of company fitness. Timber Pioneer is a top address for us because, as Frankfurt's first timber-hybrid office building, it fulfils both our innovation and sustainability requirements," says Markus Fritz, founder and Managing Director of FITSEVENELEVEN.

Christina Stylianou, company spokesperson for Netto Marken-Discount, also emphasises the innovative power of the building: "We are looking forward to our new location in Frankfurt and being able to offer local people the best possible local supply at affordable prices."

Christian Paulus, Managing Director of Paulus Immobilien GmbH, adds: "Timber Pioneer brings together everything that companies are looking for: sustainable construction, innovative space design and high visibility in a location with excellent transport links. The amenities offered by the new tenants will enhance the quality of Timber Pioneer and allow everyone, tenants and users alike, to benefit from the local amenities and fitness facilities."

The 8-storey Timber Pioneer was developed by UBM Development and Paulus Immobilien in a 75:25 joint venture and is being built in the immediate vicinity of the F.A.Z. Tower, which was also constructed by the two partners. As Frankfurt's first office building in timber-hybrid construction, the green building offers its users pioneering smart office space ranging from individual offices to open-plan concepts.

A total of around 1,800 cubic metres of FSC-certified spruce wood was used in the Timber Pioneer, in which around 1,800 tonnes of CO2 are bound. This means that the building shell was constructed in an almost CO2-neutral way. The use of industrially prefabricated composite components also significantly accelerated the construction work and reduced delivery traffic by a factor of 7. In addition, the intensive greening of the inner courtyard and roof terrace contributes significantly to improving the urban microclimate and the e-mobility concept with sharing offers and e-charging stations also helps to reduce CO2 emissions in the overall view of building use.

Timber Pioneer has been pre-certified with DGNB Gold.

Aengevelt Frankfurt acted as an intermediary for the owners during the contract negotiations. FITSEVENELEVEN was advised by Avison Young.