In Brief: Monetary Union Seen Benefiting Frankfurt

Frankfurt will emerge as the leading financial center of the new Europe, according to a survey.

The survey of 500 European executives by Healy & Baker, a London-based real estate firm, also found:

Frankfurt and Paris are seen as the cities most likely to benefit from European monetary union. London is seen as the least likely.

Germany will probably emerge as the best manufacturing location in Europe over the next five years;

Frankfurt's location makes it the second-best city in Europe after London in terms of transport links with other cities, and third-best in terms of access to markets, customers, and clients.

Frankfurt is seen as the third-best city in which to locate a business today, with the third-best telecommunications and internal transportation systems, after London and Paris, and the fourth-best commercial real estate market.

Frankfurt got a major boost this year when it was picked to be the headquarters of the new European Central Bank. In an effort to keep pace with anticipated demand for commercial premises, the city recently announced it is planning to increase available office space from 97.9 million square feet to 135.6 million square feet.

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, click here.
MORE FROM AMERICAN BANKER