As part of its expansion, the Premier Inn hotel chain will also build a location at Frankfurt Airport, where it will be the developer itself. In the new Gateway Gardens business district, Premier Inn acquired a 1,770-square-meter site on De Saint-Exupéry-Strasse from Grundstücksgesellschaft Gateway Gardens GmbH. This company is developing the overall site as a joint venture held by Fraport AG, Groß & Partner Grundstücksentwicklungsgesellschaft mbH and OFB Projektentwicklung in partnership with the City of Frankfurt. The companies announced the agreement on today's launch day of the Expo Real real estate trade show in Munich.
The new Premier Inn location will offer travelers 198 rooms, including about 30 so-called more comfortable Premier Plus Rooms. In addition, about 40 parking spaces will be available to guests in the on-site underground parking garage. Thanks to the legally binding development plan, Premier Inn hopes that the new building can be started at the end of 2024 and completed around two years later. The hotel chain is developing and building on the site itself and will thus be both operator and owner of the property.
"A hotel in Gateway Gardens is ideal for our location concept and our target group of guests," says Mathias Schotten, Head of Development at Premier Inn Germany, delighted about the contractual agreement with the Gateway Gardens property company. With a target of up to 25,000 jobs on the site, which was once home to the U.S. Air Force housing complexes, an economic boomtown is developing with offices, accommodation and event halls. In addition, a comprehensive supply infrastructure for everyday life is currently being created, including restaurants, retail, e-car charging stations, sports and leisure facilities and other service providers. And all that including a large park with old trees.
"Such a strong international hotel brand is an important partner for Gateway Gardens. Because Premier Inn improves the attractive mix in the steadily growing business district," says Jörg Guderian, managing director of Grundstücksgesellschaft Gateway Gardens GmbH, about the agreement with Premier Inn: "Especially many international guests, who have a high share at this location thanks to the proximity to Germany's largest airport, get an attractive and highly demanded booking alternative with the new hotel offer."
Mischa Koch, senior acquisitions manager at Premier Inn, names the particular location advantages for the brand: "For all types of use, the location scores points with its excellent transport links by air, rail and car. Terminal 2 of the airport can be reached on foot in 5 minutes." The future Premier Inn location is thus logistically an excellent destination and starting point for business customers. For example, for destinations abroad that are served by the main German airport. The ICE long-distance train station also provides excellent connections to all national destinations and just as many cities in neighboring European countries. Good individual accessibility to many destinations is also made possible by the central location within Germany via the immediate proximity to the Frankfurt interchange and the A3 and A5 freeways that converge there.
"Regional connections are also optimal thanks to the S-Bahn station that will open in 2019," Koch emphasizes another advantage. Since then, commuters need only ten minutes by public transport from Gateway Gardens to Frankfurt's main train station. The Premier Inn being built is ideally located for this, directly at a stop on the S8 and S9 lines. Schotten: "This also makes Gateway Gardens an excellent starting point for all important locations in the entire Rhine-Main region. Not only for business appointments, but also for tourists who want to move conveniently and climate-friendly in the Rhine-Main region."
Hotels in Frankfurt have special significance for Premier Inn not only because of the Germany headquarters there. In addition, the expansion of the British hotel brand to Germany also began in the Main metropolis, with the opening of Premier Inn Frankfurt Messe in 2016. At that time, the hotel company started a rapid growth, to now 52 open hotels. In total, 90 sites with around 16,000 rooms have been secured in more than 30 major cities.
