Gallusanlage 8 – two high-rise buildings
on a base on the Kulturpromenade
Mr. Ingo Weiskopf
fone: +49 (0)69 212 34235
Mr. Matties Oetzmann
fone: +49 (0)69 212 36150
Project description
Reason for planning
With the update of the high-rise development plan (HEP2024), the city council has created the political conditions for the development of existing and additional high-rise locations in the Frankfurt city area.
A consortium of owners, project developers, and financiers would like to realize locations 03 and 04 of the HEP2024 as a single project.
The City of Frankfurt is pursuing its interest in creating a publicly accessible cultural site with office and residential uses. The site is planned along the future cultural promenade between the theater and the opera house. The requirements of Frankfurt's building land resolution are to be taken into account.
The city is supporting the project and following the guidelines set out in the HEP2024 resolution. First, a planning competition will be held. This will be followed by the initiation of a development plan procedure to establish building and planning rights. In the course of this, an urban development contract will be concluded with the property owners. This will secure the goals of the city of Frankfurt for the project.
Planning area
The planning area is bordered to the north by Taunusstraße, to the east by Gallusanlage, and to the south by Neckarstraße. To the west, the planning area borders directly on the Silberturm property at Jürgen-Ponto-Platz 1.
The Frankfurt railway station district, on the eastern edge of which the planning area is located, is characterized by a mix of uses in the street sections further to the west. These include retail, pubs, and restaurants. In addition, there are services, residential and office uses, and, in some cases, the red-light district. The immediate vicinity of the planning area is predominantly used for offices and hotels, as well as financial services providers and banks.
The building structure in the station district is generally relatively homogeneous and usually consists of six stories. In contrast, the planning area is located within an existing building cluster. This is formed by the three high-rise buildings “Silberturm” (approx. 166 m), Gallileo (approx. 136 m) and “Skyper” (approx. 154 m). A building cluster is defined as a group of buildings with similar characteristics, uses and/or heights.
Planning objectives
The existing building cluster is to be expanded and densified with two additional towers. The aim is to create a spatial counterbalance to existing buildings such as the Commerzbank Tower, Four, and others on the other side of the ramparts.
To this end, the existing building at Gallusanlage 8 will be structurally separated from the “Silberturm” high-rise building at Jürgen-Ponto-Platz 1, which is a listed monument, and demolished.
The Gallusanlage 8 high-rise project includes the construction of an office tower approximately 170 m high on Gallusanlage and a residential tower approximately 60 m high on Neckarstraße. A base structure with an integrated cultural use and other mixed uses connects the two towers. It matches the building heights of the surrounding buildings in the station district. The future floor space is to include a mix of uses comprising at least 1.5% cultural facilities, at least 10% residential, approx. 20% hotel, and approx. 60% office space. In addition, up to 8.5% of the space may be used for secondary uses, such as restaurants and retail.
Publicly accessible roof areas and a public crossing between the adjacent public road spaces are also part of the planning concept. The new development will reduce the amount of sealed surfaces on the property and at least 15% of the property will have natural ground cover. There are plans to modify the sidewalk along Gallusanlage and the traffic areas on Neckarstraße.
The Gallusanlage 8 project is to be certified with the DBGN “Gold” standard.
Planning process
Next planning steps: Early public participation in accordance with Section 3 (1) of the German Building Code (BauGB) from the end of February 2026
Current status: The design by Ferdinand Heide Architekten from Frankfurt am Main has won first prize in the architectural competition for the development of Gallusanlage 8. Second prize goes to the design by Barkow Leibinger from Berlin. Third prize went to C.F. Møller Architects, Copenhagen/Berlin.
August 1, 2025: Competition documents sent to participating firms
May 5, 2025: Dialogue event on the Galluswarte 8 project in the atrium of the Department of Planning and Housing, Kurt-Schumacher-Straße 10
April 24, 2025 to May 23, 2025: Online participation in the project on the website
June 13, 2024: Resolution of HEP2024 by the City Council of Frankfurt
March 2024 to March 2025: In-depth feasibility study as part of preliminary investigations by Albert Speer & Partner (AS+P) and other specialist planning offices.
Between 2022 and early 2024: Discussions between the owners and project developers with the city and start of the development of a feasibility study for the project by AS+P.