Munich: ABG celebrates topping-out ceremony at FRANZ project in Sonnenstrasse

by   CIJ News iDesk III
2023-05-24   14:17
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After only about 1.5 years of construction, ABG Real Estate Group today celebrated the topping-out ceremony of its FRANZ project in downtown Munich. The ceremony at Sonnenstrasse 20 was attended by around 120 prominent guests from business and society in the Bavarian capital. They were addressed by Ulrich Höller, Managing Partner of the ABG Real Estate Group, Clemens Baumgärtner, Head of the Economic Department of the City of Munich, and Christian Müller, Chairman of the SPD City Council faction. ABG had acquired the existing real estate known from the cult series "Monaco Franze" in the immediate vicinity of the famous Stachus in September 2021 together with Versorgungswerke as joint venture partners. Construction work started in spring 2022, with the existing seven-story building from the 1950s not being demolished but gutted and revitalized to the highest standards in accordance with current environmental and quality standards and supplemented by a glazed three-story new building in the landscaped inner courtyard. Thus, the FRANZ will offer its users a total of 4,500 sqm of highly flexible space in the future, providing room for living and working in the heart of the city. The total investment volume of the project is around EUR 70 million.

Clemens Baumgärtner, Economic Affairs Officer of the City of Munich: "The FRANZ symbolizes precisely the only apparent contrasts that make Munich unique as a business location: Global corporations and artisanal small and medium-sized businesses. Urban hustle and bustle and coziness. Hospitality and business sense. In short, joie de vivre. And no one knows what that means better than Monaco Franze!"

Christian Müller, chairman of the SPD city council faction: "We very much welcome it when real estate, especially in the heart of the state capital Munich, not only shines in new splendor, but when this also applies to the building project behind it. In our view, the reuse of essential building components is forward-looking, as building and planning in this way increasingly becomes part of a comprehensive strategy of climate and resource protection."

Ulrich Höller, Managing Partner of ABG Real Estate Group: "The FRANZ shows what modern urbanity can look like when people's needs are placed at the center: Instead of the usual either/or, the FRANZ offers space for a creative combination of living and working. In doing so, it combines the existing with the new and thus shows how sustainable building can succeed at the highest level in inner cities."

Project details of FRANZ:

- The project name "Franz" is inspired by the 1980s cult TV series "Monaco Franze - der ewige Stenz." The building at Sonnenstraße 20 served as the filming location for Monaco Franze's detective agency. Thus, this address received fame throughout Germany.

- The building was built in 1953 and used as a residential and commercial building until 2020 with increasing vacancy. ABG had acquired the existing property in September 2021 together with utility companies as joint venture partners unrented and gutted.

- The main building consists of seven floors (including the first floor) and a basement. On five floors, individually designable spaces with all possibilities for new work are being created; on the upper two floors, eight light-flooded apartments with a unique view over Munich and into the Alps. On the first floor, there is space for a high-quality entrance and variable conference areas. The building features a rooftop terrace on the second floor and a large number of balconies. Facing Sonnenstrasse, it will have a new high-quality façade made of sandstone-colored Tavertin with a darkly contrasted first floor area. The previously above-ground parking spaces will be relocated to the basement and equipped with an e-charging facility. There will also be 22 bicycle parking spaces (ten of which will have e-charging facilities).

- The main building will be complemented by a fully glazed, purist new building with floor-to-ceiling windows facing the landscaped inner courtyard. It offers bright office space of the highest standard on three floors.
Construction is being overseen by the two Munich-based architectural firms Wolfgang Scherer Architekten and Schemmel Architekten. Construction began in spring 2022, and the building is scheduled for completion by the end of 2023.

The building will then also be certified according to WiredScore and the BREEAM[1] sustainability standard.