Bieber district office to be retained: City council decides to extend the lease

The Bieber district office at Aschaffenburger Straße 2, which opened in October 2023, will remain a central point of contact for its neighborhood. At its most recent meeting, the city council declared its intention to extend the lease by the city of Offenbach until 2026 despite reduced urban development funding. This means that the central spaces for civic engagement and future-oriented projects for further urban development will continue to exist.

The city council's decision provides for the rental to continue at least until 30 September 2026 - ideally even until the end of the contract of the core area management working on site on 30 September 2027. "The Bieber district office has proven to be an indispensable building block in the implementation of the urban development funding program. But it is much more than that - it is above all a place for encounters and community involvement," emphasizes city councillor Paul-Gerhard Weiß.

Projects for the Bieber and Bürgel town centers are being developed jointly as part of the "Lebendige Zentren" urban development program.

To date, a large proportion of the costs incurred have been refinanced from urban development funding, but the funding has been cut by the state of Hesse. This means that refinancing in the coming years is likely to be less than the two-thirds originally planned. The extent of the actual cuts will only become clear with the respective annual financial statements.

Meetings of the local partnership, advisory services offered by the core area management and the district architect as well as workshops and participation formats are held regularly in the 100 square meters of space. Local committees and working groups also meet in the district office. After a start-up period, fees are now being charged for renting the office in order to secure its long-term operation. This income is used to cover telephone and internet costs as well as to finance necessary renovations to the equipment. However, this is not expected to generate any significant income to refinance the municipal costs.