State of developmentHafenCity is being developed from west to east and from north to south. The area currently under construction, including

any completed sections, now extends 1.1 km in length, from the Elbphilharmonie Concert Hall at the tip of Dalmannkai in the

west to the Spiegel group building at Ericusspitze. In breadth, HafenCity begins at the Speicherstadt and runs down to the

banks of the Elbe

A new part of the city comes to life: more than 1,500 people already live in HafenCity andaround 6,000 people work here (© ELBE&FLUT)

Development from west to east

HafenCity is being developed from west to east and from north to south - 49 projects are completed and another 35 under

construction or in the planning stage; deals on around 1 million sqm GFA have either been completed through sale of land or

exclusive options (status: March 2011). Western neighborhoods are already pulsing with life. They are already well established as

residential or work locations: 1,700 people live here, with 8,400 employed in 300-plus businesses. HafenCity's largest office users are

Germa-nischer Lloyd, in situ since spring 2010 with around 1,600 staff in its new head office in Brooktorkai/Ericus and, since fall 2011,

the Spiegel group on Ericusspitze.

In 2009, Am Sandtorkai/Dalmannkai led the way in HafenCity as the first completed neighborhood, with the exception of the

Elbphilharmonie Concert Hall. The new icon designed by Herzog & de Meuron is growing skywards on historic Kaispeicher A. This

new Hamburg landmark will be ready in 2014/15, providing two concert auditoria, a five-star hotel, around 45 apartments and parking

and service amenities.

Next door, the second large neighborhood, Am Sandtorpark/Grasbrook, was all but complete by the beginning of 2011. A primary

school with nursery and kindergarten offering all-day supervision opened in 2009; many families have settled in its proximity. The third

neighborhood, Brooktorkai/Ericus with its two major users, Germanischer Lloyd and Spiegel group, was completed in fall 2011. The

first building ensemble in Strandkai quarter, consisting of Unilever's headquarters and the Marco Polo residential tower, has already

reaped architectural awards. The neighborhood's Elbe Terraces and promenade were the first open spaces directly bordering the

River Elbe. The 400 or so apartments planned for the tip of the quay will be built in 2013.

 

Urban spaces around Magdeburger Hafen take center stage

The impressive metropolitan character of Überseequartier, the commercial heart of HafenCity covering 13.7 hectares, is already

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apparent. In the northern section the first residents have moved in; since then shops and services, as well as a large supermarket for

everyday needs, have opened along the boulevard. The first hotel in HafenCity is also already welcoming guests to the neighborhood.

Work on southern Überseequartier began in spring 2011. The shell of Überseequartier subway station had to be completed first.

Transit services will begin in fall 2012.

Elbtorquartier, in eastern Magdeburger Hafen harbor, the future "knowledge quarter”, includes the International Maritime

Museum Hamburg, a historic warehouse in Kaispeicher B, open to visitors since 2008. A little further on toward the Elbe, HafenCity

University is taking shape and will be ready by summer 2013. The "Elbe Arcades” - consisting of the new Greenpeace HQ,

designport hamburg, as well as apartments - will also be finished in 2013. Other openings scheduled for 2012 or 2013 will include

innovative projects such as the Ecumenical Forum, the musicians' house and the integrative Stadthaushotel.

The starting signal for use of HafenCity's public center was the inauguration of the open spaces around Magdeburger Hafen in June

2011. The result is an ensemble of promenades and squares through which HafenCity and the existing city center are growing

together. On foot via the central "Domplatz” axis, the Inner Alster and harbor basins are only 900m apart and the distance is

quickly covered.

Transition to the eastern part of HafenCity is through Am Lohsepark neighborhood, where residential construction will begin in 2012.

The same year will see successive development of all three eastern neighborhoods - Baakenhafen, Oberhafen and Elbbrücken.

Construction of the large HafenCity "central park”, Lohse-park, which will act as a green "hinge" between western and eastern

HafenCity, can begin from 2013.

Development process

HafenCity Hamburg GmbH pulls the strings, overseeing all activities as the city's manager of development, property owner and

developer of infrastructure (except the subway).

Since October 1, 2006, HafenCity has had so-called priority area status: all zoning plans are discussed by the Commission for Urban

Development set up for this purpose, representing all political parties in Hamburg's City Parliament.

The aim is to set international standards for conceptual and architectural quality. It is important, therefore, not only to attract powerful

and financially strong investors, but also to find developers willing to cooperate in setting high quality standards and in treading

innovative paths.

Tenders are invited for plots scheduled for residential use; the competition result then decides. In most cases, however, it is not

necessarily the highest bidder that is successful - the crucial factor for awarding the contract is the quality of the use concepts

submitted and the declared objective of creating a fine-grained mix of uses. Sites for office buildings are not generally processed this

way. Instead, companies planning to staff 60 to 70 percent of a building or site for their own purposes can apply to HafenCity

Hamburg GmbH.  

Exclusive options ensure quality

Whatever the type of land use, the necessary ratification by the Land Commission is followed by an exclusive option period with an

obligation to plan. The investor/user then has to proceed, in conjunction with the City of Hamburg, with an architectural competition,

may commission site surveys, and has to prepare for building approval. Throughout this process, HafenCity Hamburg GmbH, the

authorities and the buyer remain in constant dialog.

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The advantage of this process for the developer is that financing of the purchase price is postponed until after the building permit is

granted; until then it has adequate time to hone the quality of its product, secure finance and perhaps acquire additional users. At the

same time the city retains its ability to ensure the building's quality by intervening during the development process which lasts for one

and a half years after award of the option, thus ensuring that the originally submitted use concepts and time schedules will be

adhered to, since the purchase cannot go through until the building permit is received.  This encourages cooperation - with both city

and developer optimizing risks, costs, quality and time scales.

For Hamburg, although it is the land owner, HafenCity is not primarily a major real estate project in which the individual undertakings

need to be realized as quickly and efficiently as possible - rather, within the context of a new definition of city, the end product is

intended to be model urban quality.

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