German property company DIC Asset is taking on a new challenge: the development of a large mixed-use project encompassing eight buildings over 100,000 m[sup]2[/sup] in the heart of Frankfurt.

German property company DIC Asset is taking on a new challenge: the development of a large mixed-use project encompassing eight buildings over 100,000 m2 in the heart of Frankfurt.

The Maintor project will offer office space, a retail component and up to 250 apartments. Construction is due to start next year and will take around four years to be completed, according to DIC’s CEO Ulrich Höller. ´This is a very large project for us, in the heart of Frankfurt’s financial centre, with views of the river,’ he said.

The mixed-use scheme will cost the Frankfurt-based asset manager and developer around EUR 500 mln to develop. The site has been occupied by German chemical firm Degussa for the past 50 years, prior to being acquired by RAG in 2006. Degussa will vacate the site next year, with demolition scheduled to begin next summer.

Höller said development activity accounts for between 15% and 20% of DIC’s portfolio. ‘We develop two-to-three projects a year,' he said. DIC is also developing the Opera offices project in Hamburg at a cost of EUR 65 mln. Construction will start next year on the 13,000 m2 project, which is due to be completed by the end of 2013. At end-September, DIC had assets of EUR 3.2 bn, of which 70% is offices and 20% out of town retail.