HOCHTIEF Projektentwicklung is to build a budget design hotel for the Motel One brand and a Contipark underground garage in downtown Cologne. The project at Cäcilienstrasse 32, which has a gross floor area of 24,010 square meters, has now been sold off plan to the future operators. The contract partners have agreed not to disclose details of the purchase price. Once archaeological examination has been completed, construction should begin in early 2016.
The project foresees a building with seven above-grade levels and four below-grade levels on a lot of around 3,000 square meters opposite the Museum Schnütgen and the Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum. Designs for the facade are being sought from an architects’ competition and the winner will be named in the fall of this year. Demolition work on the existing parking facility, which has been driven by Contipark for nearly 20 years, is to start in August 2015. The 363 car parking spaces for both hotel guests and city center visitors will be relocated underground. The new Contipark-run garage will be completed in fall 2017. Motel One, currently operating 50 Hotels and almost 14 000 rooms in five European countries, plans to open the new house at the end of 2018. Besides 424 rooms, a reception lobby and breakfast room for hotel guests, the hotel will also feature a bar and lounge with outdoor areas. "Since 2004 bed nights in Cologne have risen by a good 36 percent to 5.74 million last year - but there has been a drop in the number of available beds," says Rolf Lauer, Manager of the Rhine Ruhr branch of HOCHTIEF Projektentwicklung, "so a budget design hotel in a downtown location amends the currently available accommodation capacity of Cologne perfectly."