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Köln-Arcaden district design. /// credit: ASTOC Architects and Planners
Köln-Arcaden district design. /// credit: ASTOC Architects and Planners

Köln-Arcaden In Germany Receives A Sustainable Mixed-Use Development from Union Investment

Union Investment, owner of the Köln Arcaden shopping center in Germany, is planning to develop the site into a new mixed-use quarter. The preliminary planning envisages around 108 apartments, some privately financed and some publicly subsidized, as well as senior citizens’ apartments, a facility with care places for senior citizens and office space for a total of around 800 employees.

Back in December, the City of Cologne’s urban development committee unanimously decided to initiate a corresponding development plan procedure, including early public participation. This means that planning for the new quarter can now begin. The operation of the successful Köln Arcaden will remain unrestricted.

The current plans envisage that the Köln Arcaden parking garage on Barcelona-Allee will be partially dismantled. However, the foundations and basement will be retained. The second part of the Köln-Arcaden parking garage will be extended. Several new structures will be built on the site of the parking garage that is scheduled for demolition. The new buildings will house 108 apartments, additional apartments suitable for senior citizens and a facility with care places for senior citizens. There will also be a 60-meter-high office building with a gross floor area of 21,000 sq m. A daycare center for under-threes is also to be built.

“We are planning to create a new urban quarter without sealing any more land,” says Simon Splittgerber, asset and project manager. “The entire district will benefit from this – with new, urgently needed apartments and housing for senior citizens and with jobs close to home. The retailers in the Köln Arcaden can look forward to new customers.”

The detailed design of the project is now being developed in an urban planning qualification process with extensive public participation. The development plan is expected to be drawn up in 2027.