ECB is about to move -- and to stay

[chrisild]

Next year (probably in late 2014) the European Central Bank will move its headquarters in Frankfurt from the inner city to the Ostend. Except we now know that it won't really be a move: Due to the ECB's additional tasks as a banking supervisory body, more jobs and offices will be needed. Currently the ECB is located in the Eurotower (Willy-Brandt-Platz) ...



... and it also uses parts of two buildings in the neighborhood. According to the original plan, the ECB would have moved from there to the new HQ (Sonnemannstraße) next year.

Christian

[chrisild]

The new building, a little east of the inner city, combines the former central market halls and a new high rise. This is what the site looks like these days:



However, when that new HQ was planned, nobody knew that the ECB would one day get this "extra job", with about 1,000 additional people. So a few days ago the European Central Bank decided that the "actual" or "core" central bank will move to the Osthafen as planned before. The banking supervision staff, however, will be in the Eurotower.

Christian

[Figleaf]

I have often wondered how you get building cranes up higher than a building under construction. On this picture you can see how...

Peter

[Bimat]

Any collector coin planned on this occasion? Aah yes, may be from Tuvalu, Niue or Cook Islands...

Aditya

[chrisild]

Quite possibly so. No, there will not be any coins for the opening of the new HQ. 2014 could have been an occasion for a commem though, as the European Monetary Institute (EMI) was established on 1 January 1994, thus 20 years ago. Then again, the EMI became the ECB on 1 June 1998, so 2018 would be a better occasion. And maybe we'll get to see the new building on a coin then. Who knows ...

Christian

[kwcoin]

I work across the street from the Eurotower.   I've always wondered why the ECB would move from their prime location to the Ost ( east) Frankfurt ? On one hand I suppose the local economy surrounding their new location will benefit however, I personally think the area is sort of unattractive for the Central Bank of Europe to set up shop. As a side note. I recently visited the ECB coin shop and I asked an employee about the move. He confirmed the move is slated for summer 2014 and he added that he and others in the coin shop will lose their jobs.     

[chrisild]

I work across the street from the Eurotower.

And where were you when we had our World of Coins meeting in Frankfurt a year ago? Oh right, you signed up later. Anyway, see here: http://www.worldofcoins.eu/forum/index.php/topic,16543.0.html  On that occasion we had a tour at the Bundesbank's Money Museum, visited the Degussa/Jaeger Collection at the Historic Museum, and more. We actually visited that very coin store at the ECB, so we were pretty close to where you work ...

Well, the ECB needed more space, and that would have been more expensive in the area where the Eurotower is, than in the Osthafen quarter. And if you look at where the Bundesbank has its HQ, that is not precisely in the business district either. As for the coin store, who knows, maybe it can actually stay where it is, if the ECB continues to use the Eurotower? Let's hope for the best ...

Christian

[kwcoin]

Yes I lament I didn't know about this forum until this year. ahh...... "a day late and a dollar short" as they say.  Anyway,  I think you have your bearings a little mixed up on Frankfurt. The ECB building ( eurotower) is SMACK DAB in the  business district where all the banks are.  All the major German banks headquarters are within a stones throw of the ECB. Commerzbank headquarters  is across the street. The 5 star Frankfurter Hof Hotel is across the street. Believe me, you have it wrong. The ECB is located in the business district. I work right there. Where the ECB  is moving in East Frankfurt mystefies me. I doubt if money is the problem. Won't get into that belief here.  Ost ( east ) Frankfurt is rally sort of drab.  BTW on the ECB coin strore. Very nice but over priced in my opinion. I've purchased some common BU sets from countries i.e. Italy there. No problem. However, the majority of their stuff is overpriced. One can get much better deals if one does his homework.  That said Ill be sorry to see them move. It was convient for me to stroll over there during lunch and check out what they have.     

[chrisild]

Hehe, I know where the Eurotower is. See the photos here: http://www.worldofcoins.eu/forum/index.php/topic,16543.msg121213.html#msg121213 The point I was trying to make is, a central bank does not necessarily have to be downtown - see the Bundesbank (Wilhelm-Epstein-Straße) in Frankfurt. That store, well, it seems to be a mix of a "classical" coin store and a souvenir store. But some of us, notably Peter/Figleaf, did get a good deal there.

Christian

[Figleaf]

Civil servants are different. They have money to spend and money is fungible, except for civil servants, because money is divided by budget items. I am sure the ECB can afford a high status building in an expensive area, but they probably don't have a budget for it. Budgets are discussed by the member states. They will routinely accept routine items and routine increases therein, such as electricity bills, even if there is great waste in them, e.g. by leaving on lights all night. Instead, they will concentrate on one-off items and important changes and moving is both. In the end, the ECB will have a bloated item for typewriters, pencils, glue and erasers and not enough for moving. Of course, the bean counters have ways to transfer some or all of the typewriter money, but even many small items don't make a big item.

One solution is the iceberg. There's more under water than you can see. Draft a budget for a building in an expensive area. Let the member-states bicker and establish an insufficient amount. At the next meeting, announce triumphantly that by building on another plot (in a much cheaper area, of course, but you don't tell them that), you can add space and this will solve many problems with the original plan and it can all be done for the same amount...

I have good memories of that coin shop. There is room for negotiation if you bundle your purchases...

Peter

[kwcoin]

Money is "almost" always a determining factor when a business makes a major decision.  Even if it isn't announced that way to the public. Nevertheless, I still find it difficult to believe the ECB is making this move to save money. Sure their new location is a less expensive area than where they are located now. However..........
As for the ECB coin / souvenir shop. I NEVER said one cannot get a good deal there. I've stated that I've bought BU sets from them in the past.  They are still overpriced with many coins and sets. Yes they are a souvenir shop too. I've never priced their souvenir stuff cause it doesn't interest me. Another Senior member of this forum ( I won't mention his name )  also told me he thinks the ECB coin shop is overpriced.   

[chrisild]

The European Central Bank just published a video from and about the new HQ construction site (late July 2014). You can watch it here (Flash based video player). Note that this is meant to be television "footage", to be used as visual background material for TV stations. So the eight minutes may be somewhat dull.   ECB staff will start moving there at the end of this year; early next year there will be an official opening ceremony.

Christian

[Figleaf]

Loose thoughts. Several workers wear the mandatory safety harness, but only one actually had it tethered to the building. Only one woman in the crew (around 4:30 minutes). Talk is indistinct. I wonder how many were of German descent and speaking German. When is the building due? Is it behind schedule already?

Peter

[chrisild]

Loose thoughts. Several workers wear the mandatory safety harness, but only one actually had it tethered to the building. Only one woman in the crew (around 4:30 minutes). Talk is indistinct. I wonder how many were of German descent and speaking German. When is the building due? Is it behind schedule already?

Guess we need to differentiate when it comes to who wears what safety equipment. There are parts of the buildings where hard hats are required, for example, and others where they are not necessary. I do not know how many women are among the construction workers. As for the languages spoken, I have no idea either. There was an EU wide tender for each "contract package", and the winning companies will have ordered services from sub-(sub-)contractors. Who knows what they speak, as long as those who work together understand each other.

Behind schedule? Ha, that could never happen - the ECB construction site is not the Hamburg Philharmonic Hall, or the Stuttgart Main Station, and certainly not some soon-to-open airport south of Berlin. Then again ... In 2007 there were plans to open the new HQ in early 2012. In mid-2008 there were budget problems; no main contractor could be found who would be willing and able to stay below the €500m threshold (based on 2005 prices). Today we are at €1.2bn, I think.

Other issues had to do with the old part of the ECB HQ, the Großmarkthalle built in the mid-1920s. Which parts should be torn down, which parts should be preserved? Today, after a long debate (also in court) the impressive façade, more than 200 meters long, is still there. There will also be a memorial for deported Jews. But much of the interior is gone, and the new high rise "cuts" the hall so to say.

A year later the ECB said that instead of one main contractor there would be twelve "contract packages", and construction began in May 2010; the building was supposed to be ready in early 2014. Then a new issue came up - where should the SSM (Single Supervisory Mechanism) staff be? Well, see the initial post.

Mario Draghi's desk will be on the 40th floor by the way; the General Council table will be on the 41st. A few weeks ago, in late June, Benoît Cœuré (ECB Executive Board) said that in November the first employees would move into the new premises. But the entire move might take a while, so the opening ceremony will be some time in 2015.

Christian

[chrisild]

How many boxes did you need last time you moved? Well, the ECB people who are going to work in the new building need about 20,000 - and that does not even include furniture.   On Friday and Saturday several trucks were loaded in Kaiserstraße and then unloaded in Sonnemannstraße. This image, and more, you can view here. Getting all those boxes from the old HQ to the new premises will take until the end of the month ...

Edit: According to this ECB press release (3 Nov), 722 people have moved from the old to the new building so far.

Christian