Berlin invigorates: Ring center becomes a modern hotspot for life and leisure!

Berlin invigorates: Ring center becomes a modern hotspot for life and leisure!

Frankfurter Allee, 10369 Berlin, Deutschland - Berlin retail faces in-depth changes, while the online business continues to grow. Many shopping malls, including the Ring Center 3, show vacancy and fight with falling number of visitors. The shopping center, which is located on Frankfurter Allee between Friedrichshain and Lichtenberg, was once a popular meeting place. The large Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof, which was located there, is now empty after its bankruptcy, and more than four floors of the center are currently unused.

Two years ago, the Real Estate company Benken acquired the Ring Center 3 and is now planning a comprehensive renovation. On March 24, the company announced that a Rewe and a gym will move in agym. With these new tenants, 50 percent of the former Galeria area have already been awarded. The plans are supported by real estate entrepreneurs Dieter Becken and the district mayor Martin Schaefer (CDU). The construction college has already given its approval, but it remains unclear when and how the measures can be implemented final, in particular due to the possible effects of the A100 extension.

Extensive changes in retail

These developments are part of a greater structural change in Berlin retail. More and more central department stores, such as the Galeries Lafayette, are empty. A planned conversion of this location should cost several hundred million euros, but future use is still uncertain. The renovation of the Galeria Kaufhof on Alexanderplatz also shows how much the shopping habits of people have changed. Numerous shopping malls and pandemic have led to a decline in the number of visitors.

These structural changes affect not only Lichtenberg, but also other prominent locations in Berlin-Mitte and beyond. For example, a partial demolition and new building is planned in the Park Center in Alt-Treptow to create space for trade, apartments, retail and leisure. The boulevard Berlin pursues similar approaches in Steglitz, where new office space and service apartments are to be created.

political and urban reactions

Berlin politics is actively in the endeavor to strengthen retail. A centrigible summit, which is to take place in June, brings around 100 experts together to discuss support programs and usage concepts for classic shopping locations. Owners are increasingly investing in modernizations to avoid vacancy. Cities like Neuss and Nuremberg already have examples of successful conversions of former department stores, while Bremerhaven plans to demolish an old Karstadt branch and replace with a new youth hostel and city library.

In this context you can see the challenges of structural change, which also offer exciting urban planning opportunities for innovative usage concepts. The need for areas for educational offers, sports clubs and cultural uses in growing cities could soon be more focused on. The adaptation to the changed shopping habits is essential.