A new phase for Solingen shopping and city centre
The day had been eagerly awaited for months by many of the residents of Solingen as well as those directly involved in the joint venture between MAB Development and Sonae Sierra. At around 2:15 pm on December 18 the former tower hotel in the city centre of Solingen was successfully blasted. The demolition was necessary as part of the development of a new sustainable shopping centre with a total gross lettable area of 29,000 m². It is planned for the centre to open its doors between the end of 2013 and the beginning of 2014.
Blast off: New phase in development of Solingen shopping and city centre
• Safe and effective blasting lasted only a few seconds
• Thousands of visitors attended event
• Marking a new development phase with opening expected end 2013/start 2014
• Video of blasting available
The demolition (a video of which is available via the link below) was carried out using a process called topple-collapse blasting. This involves the tower first slightly folding and then collapsing in a safe technique adjusted to the plot specification. A project team comprised of experienced experts and city officials was founded especially for the process to ensure that the tower fell safely. Thousands of visitors and residents of Solingen followed the blast from various locations and jointly celebrated the start of a new and innovative city development.
MAB Development and Sonae Sierra initially announced their joint venture and the plans for the new inner-city shopping centre in June 2011. Both partners have a 50% share in Solingen Shopping Center GmbH, founded for this purpose. The centre will be built on the 13,000 m² Karstadt area and involves an investment of approximately 120 million euros. It is planned to offer the people of Solingen an innovative tenant mix comprising well-known international and national brands in addition to local providers. The centre will be fully dedicated to shopping, services and leisure, while also offering 600 parking spaces in the city centre and direct access to public transport. The densely populated catchment area is located between the towns of Wuppertal, Düsseldorf and Cologne and has approximately 270,000 inhabitants.
“MAB Development has over 40 years of experience in the development of city centres,” says Michael L. Flesch, Managing Director of MAB Development Deutschland. “In Solingen we are revitalising a central trading location that will bring back lost purchasing power. As with all our developments we focus on the benefits that a shopping centre brings to local inhabitants. The architecture, quality and tenant mix in addition to the sustainability and future profitability will be based on this standard.”
Thomas Binder, Managing Director for Developments at Sonae Sierra in Germany, adds: “The blasting is a new phase for the development of Solingen, which will create an innovative and sustainable shopping centre and leisure facility in the heart of Solingen. As a result a large part of the city centre will benefit from a new offer and development that showcases the best of its local heritage.”
BLASTING VIDEO:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V01XFbZ99cc
About Sonae Sierra
Sonae Sierra is the international shopping centre specialist with a passion for bringing innovation and enthusiasm to the shopping and leisure centre industry. The company owns 49 shopping centres in Portugal, Spain, Italy, Germany, Greece, Romania and Brazil. Sonae Sierra also provides services to third parties in Cyprus, Serbia, Croatia, Morocco and Colombia. At present, Sonae Sierra has 5 projects underway and 6 other new projects in different phases of development in Portugal, Italy, Germany, Greece, Romania and Brazil. Sonae Sierra manages a Gross Lettable Area (GLA) of more than 2.2 million m² with 8.500 tenants. In 2010, Sonae Sierra shopping centres had more than 442 million visits.
www.sonaesierra.com
About MAB Development
MAB Development is part of the Rabo Real Estate group, one of Europe´s largest real estate concerns with three main activities: Development, finance and investment management. The Rabo Real Estate Group consists of MAB Development, the FGH Bank, Bouwfonds Property Development and Bouwfonds Real Estate Investment Management. It is part of the Rabobank, one of Europe´s most stable financial institutions with an AA status, the best rating for private banks. MAB Development is a highly innovative European developer of commercial real estate and multifunctional urban projects. Actual project of MAB Development Germany is the PalaisQuartier in the city of Frankfurt am Main with an investment volume of €1bn. This city centre project consists of five elements: the representive Thurn und Taxis Palais, the shopping centre MyZeil, the office tower NEXTOWER, the hotel Jumeirah Frankfurt and the parking garage PalaisQuartier/MyZeil.
www.mab.com
www.palaisquartier.com