After more than 15 years of planning and debate, the high-rise project at Berlin's Breitscheidplatz is now under construction. The tower, known as Upper West, is based on designs by architect Christoph Langhof dating back to 1994. For City West, this is a concrete step forward. And the question of whether the building might also include apartments concerns investors and urban planners alike.
From the Schimmelpfeng building to a high-rise
The site was previously occupied by the Schimmelpfeng building, a structure from Berlin's post-war modernist era built in 1960. Despite its listed status, the Berlin Senate approved its demolition in 1999 to make way for redevelopment. The fact that more than a decade passed between that decision and the actual start of construction says something about the complexity of large-scale projects in Berlin.
Offices, hotel, or apartments?
The roughly 118-meter tower is primarily intended for office and hotel space. However, in 2012, a partial residential use is also being considered. There is an economic rationale: Berlin's commercial property market is recovering slowly after the financial crisis, while demand for apartments in Berlin continues to rise. A mixed-use concept would offer investors a degree of risk diversification. How the Berlin apartment market develops overall plays a central role in this decision.
What the project means for City West
The construction changes the skyline around Kurfuerstendamm and Berlin Zoo. For the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, the project signals that City West is once again attracting attention from developers. Whether this also affects property prices in the immediate area depends on the final use concept and further neighbourhood development. A comparison with the dynamics in Mitte, where Alexanderplatz is sparking similar discussions at the same time, is hard to avoid.
With the start of construction in 2012, a long period of uncertainty comes to an end. The final use concept, however, is still pending.
