Luxury Goes Vertical in Frankfurt as High-Rises Spread

Alexander Dimolaidis is moving on up, going somewhere he thought hed never go: to the 21st floor.

Until now, he associated high-rise living with the ugly behemoths on the fringes of Frankfurt reserved for subsidized housing. Last month, he bought a one-bedroom unit in the 40-story Henninger Turm.

I like the freedom of being up so high, the open views, said Dimolaidis, 43, an advertising executive who fell for the 140-meter (460-foot) skyscraper, which is due to be completed in 2016. It features concierge service, mosaic floors and unobstructed views of the Taunus hills. Its very different from the ghettoized life in the high-rises on the outskirts.

From London to Warsaw, high-rises are losing their reputation as grim necessities on the Old Continent. Europeans, like buyers in New York, Hong Kong and Dubai, are increasingly drawn to their amenities and convenience. Developers, seeking to maximize profit in densely built cities, are feeding the demand with a record pace of construction.

Henninger Turm is one of at least seven upscale residential towers planned in Frankfurt, home of the European Central Bank and the euro areas financial capital. There is now just one such property: the 21-story Skylight, built by Deutsche Telekom AG (DTE) more than a decade ago.

Henninger Turm is one of at least seven upscale residential towers planned in Frankfurt, home of the European Central Bank and the euro area's financial capital, where bird's-eye views are usually reserved for bankers' offices and welfare recipients living in subsidized projects. Close

Henninger Turm is one of at least seven upscale residential towers planned in... Read More

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Henninger Turm is one of at least seven upscale residential towers planned in Frankfurt, home of the European Central Bank and the euro area's financial capital, where bird's-eye views are usually reserved for bankers' offices and welfare recipients living in subsidized projects.

At least 135 residential high-rises -- defined by Los Angeles-based property broker CBRE Group Inc. (CBG) as buildings taller than 20 stories -- are planned for London. They include One Blackfriars and Newfoundland. In Warsaw, Daniel Libeskind designed the Zlota 44. In Paris, Norman Foster is working on Hermitage Plaza. In Berlin, Frank Gehry won a competition to design a 39-story twisting tower that will be Germanys tallest apartment block.

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Luxury Goes Vertical in Frankfurt as High-Rises Spread