Anyone travelling to Frankfurt may be surprised at their first glimpse of the city. Or the smell. That is, if you arrive by train. Because the station district, Bahnhofsviertel, shows the dark side of Frankfurt. It is where drug users shoot up on house doorsteps, undefinable stains smear the pavements and brothels bathe the alleyways with a red glow. But just a few blocks away, it is a city of the rich.
Gleaming skyscrapers, bankers in suits and expensive restaurants give the city its nickname, Mainhattan, a play on the river Main and the skyscrapers.
Some , additional overnight stays are expected, around half of which will come from abroad. An exaggeration perhaps, but that optimistic wording has since been removed. Tuesday, 12 pm. Get an exclusive analysis of real estate and property news in Singapore and beyond.
In the early s, its streets were reserved for the upper class before losing their status after the World War II. Nightlife and the red light district flourished in the area β which suffered little damage β while serving American troops that occupied the city. Today it is harder to find tenants for the office spaces in the building than anywhere else in the city. Rents and property values have also lagged.
Since , apartment prices in Bahnhofsviertel rose only 5. Just five years ago, the trajectory was different as the Bahnhofsviertel reinvented itself. A mix of iconic kiosks and hip restaurants, such as the chic pastrami bar Maxie Eisen, lured more of the banking world, young partygoers and tourists.
