City initiates adaptation of building law for new "Kaiserviertel" : ABG plans to demolish the KWU towers soon

After lengthy negotiations, the city of Offenbach and the Frankfurt housing association ABG reached an agreement in October 2025 on the redevelopment of the derelict former KWU site on Kaiserlei. ABG plans to invest a total of around 500 million euros in the new "Kaiserviertel" by 2029. Demolition of the tower skeletons is set to begin in the coming weeks. As things stand, the main cornerstones of the project are over 1,100 rental apartments, office space on Strahlenbergerstrasse and the construction of a daycare center. Around 350 student residences are to be built in place of the KWU towers. A total of ten percent of the planned residential space will be developed in the form of publicly subsidized apartments.

A project-related development plan has been in place for the site since 2020 - albeit still for the original plans of the previous landowner. The city had assured AGB that it would adapt the building law for the new project in an accelerated procedure. At its most recent meeting on January 28, the Offenbach city council initiated the amendment of the project-related development plan 645 "Strahlenbergerstraße Ost". If the city councillors approve the project at their last meeting of the current legislative period on February 12, the development plan can then be revised to allow for a mixed-use district. In view of the major housing shortage, this envisages a large number of new rental apartments, urgently needed student accommodation, a daycare center, commercial units along Strahlenbergerstrasse, a hotel, retail, parking garage and climate-friendly green and recreational areas.