Urban Development
Urban development Reinickendorf
Tegel Airport: 450 hectares for Berlin's north
With TXL set to close in 2011, 450 hectares become available. Six architecture firms have presented concepts, and the Senate plans mixed-use development.
Peter Guthmann
When the new BBI airport opens in autumn 2011, Berlin-Tegel will close. 450 hectares become available. For around 250,000 residents in Reinickendorf and parts of Spandau, aircraft noise will end.
Six concepts, one site
Last year, six architecture firms presented their ideas for the site. The range:
- agence ter Landschaftsarchitekten: rewilding with forests, moors, and allotment gardens (Kleingaerten)
- Gerkan, Marg & Partner: an eco-city with a lake landscape
- west8 (Rotterdam): a park with wind turbines
- Machleidt und Partner: a small town combining commercial and residential use
Reserving the area for large events such as the Olympic Games was also discussed.
What the Senate plans
The preliminary land-use plan (Flaechennutzungsplan) calls for mixed use: special-purpose zones for a research and industrial park focused on future technologies, commercial zones, and forest and green areas. Berlin's business community has signalled interest in setting up there. A section earmarked for military use remains disputed.
A long timeline, but clear demand drivers in the north
Properties in current aircraft noise zones could benefit from the closure. A research and industrial park would create jobs and increase demand for apartments in the surrounding area. Full development of the 450-hectare site will take years. Compare against current market data for Berlin's north before pricing in any uplift.
History of the airport
Tegel was built in autumn 1948 on a former rocket testing site as a military airfield to support the Berlin Airlift (Berliner Luftbruecke). Until 1990, it operated as "Base 165" under French military administration. A 1960 agreement first permitted civilian flights alongside military operations.
