Strabag to construct TaunusTurm in Frankfurt

Central and Eastern European construction group Strabag has been awarded a EUR 200 mln contract for the turnkey construction of the TaunusTurm at the Taunusanlage park in Frankfurt's financial district. The project, representing a joint venture of US group Tishman Speyer and German fund manager Commerz Real, consists of a 170-metre high office tower and a 62-metre residential asset connected by a six-storey block.

Strabag's subsidiary Ed. Züblin, which has already been involved in developing the OpernTurm project completed in 2009, will carry out the construction works for TaunusTurm.

TaunusTurm envisages the development of an office tower with 40 floors and a 16-storey residential building on a 5,500 m² plot of land at the corner of Taunustor and Neue Mainzer Straße. The scheme is expected to have around 62,000 m² of lettable space. Construction is due to start in April 2011 and is scheduled for completion at the end of 2013. TaunusTurm will be constructed with the intention of qualifying for LEED Gold certification.

Financing will be provided by Eurohypo.

US developer and investor Tishman Speyer announced in January that it was joining forces with Commerz Real to develop another major office property in Frankfurt following the completion and sale of OpernTurm to a partnership of GIC and JP Morgan.

Tishman Speyer began its European activities as a commercial property investor in Frankfurt in 1988 with the development of the 60-storey MesseTurm, which at the time became Europe's tallest office tower and an iconic symbol for the city. In the following years, the US company has developed or refurbished over EUR 4 bn worth of property in Germany's six major cities.