“Lateral Towers Frankfurt” – Commerz Real Takes a New Approach

Commerz Real will market the office property located at Neue Börsenstrasse 1 in Frankfurt’s Hausen district under the new name of “Lateral Towers Frankfurt.” So far, the building has served as seat of Deutsche Börse AG. The latter announced in early 2008 that it would relocate its headquarter to neighbouring Eschborn. Deutsche Börse AG has not given notice to terminate the lease yet, which means that the building will not become available for follow-up usage before July 2011.

The property, which is owned by the closed-end CFB Fund 130, is a state-of-the-art office scheme that was completed in the year 2000. Its layout as eight symmetrical building units connected by a glassed-in crossbeam structure is unique in architectonic terms. As its new name suggests, the horizontal orientation of “Lateral Towers Frankfurt” distinguishes it from conventional, vertically oriented office buildings.

“The ‘Lateral Towers Frankfurt’ symbolise a sense of realism, transparency, flat hierarchies, and thus a modern corporate culture,” said Hans-Joachim Kühl, Member of the Board of Commerz Real and, among other responsibilities, in charge of asset management. “This makes us rather confident that we will be able to present this special object as an attractive alternative location.”

Under the new marketing concept, the premises can be used either by a single or by several tenants. “The individual building units permit flexible structuring both in a technical and a logistical sense. For instance, letting the property by wing or by floor is equally conceivable,” Kühl went on to elaborate.

The “Lateral Towers Frankfurt” have a gross lettable area of about 56,000 square metres. The property is located in the western part of Frankfurt, and comes with great transport connectivity for road-bound traffic and public transportation. Downtown and airport are each just a 15 minute drive away. Annexed to the office scheme is a multi-storey car park with 440 slots, while another 200 parking spaces are available in the underground car park. Both bus and underground stops are found near the building.