A flat in Berlin...(well, actually two!)

…and here are the flats!

stripedcat — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 23:04:35 +0000

It took some time, to refurbish them, to stitch up proper mini-websites, but eventually here they are. Click on the links on the right…

The 1920s flat has a surface of only 54 square meters – plus a mezzanine! – and is located in a beautiful Altbau. The 1960s flat is cuddly, only 30 square meters but its location is magic!

Both are located in the Bayerisches Viertel in Schöneberg…our ideal neighborhood!

Location, location, location!

stripedcat — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 06:05:00 +0000

The Aflatinberlin mantra! Location, location, location! An interesting (even if not surprising) article today:

Berlin Berlin – time for a good bargain?

Wednesday, October 14, 2009 @ 17:51 PM

written by Peter Talkenberger

How is the property market in Berlin doing these days? Contrary facts and opinions are the order of the day. But also really good news. In this article we publish an interview which we had with an architect, who overlooks the “scene” from his office in Friedrichstrasse “Am Checkpoint Charlie”.

Ingo Ronski leads the office “Ronski + Burke Architects and Engineers” together with his Partner Fergus Burke.

Mr. Ronski, you as architect and project development planner know the Berlin real estate market since many years. What changes did you notice in the recent months?

I.R.: Recently quite obviously a much smaller number of International Investors is searching to buy on the Berlin market. Subsequently the prices dropped and the situation once again has become interesting for buyers.

So you feel the financial crisis effects Berlin very strongly?

I.R.: Certainly. We notice that especially in the area of residential property. You feel the financial crisis in Berlin by seeing some larger developments stopped or by slower and fewer transactions taking place. We do not in particular notice major vacancies. Around Friedrichstrasse you still find some vacant office areas. For those who are seeking to rent the situations is quite relaxed.

What is your estimate for the market? Will prices, as many say, drop remarkably especially in the German capital city?

I.R.: They dropped already. I am curious of the crisis will have even harder effects. Nevertheless I believe in Berlin as a good future market, still. Berlin will develop and prosper further, even if slowly. Berlin is very widespread as far as property is concerned; the location and the micro situation are more important than in other cities which I know of. Well known sought after areas will stay stable, per my opinion.

The hotel development boom of recent years has cooled down mostly. Apparently this market has reached a point of saturation. Nevertheless the last big surprise was the announcement that the high rise building at the Zoo will now be developed – the so-called Zoofenster-Hochhaus near the Kudamm. The famous Waldorf Astoria Hotel will move in, five stars plus, 15 floors, 300 rooms. Apparently the arabs still have good money for investment despite the financial crisis.

How do you preview the price development for land and developments around the newly planned International Airport BBI?

I.R.: A lot of industrial parks, business centers and similar developments have been planned. Our office worked on a master plan for an Irish investor to develop a large area in the region of City Schoenefeld. Planning here is for logistics an residential. Many developments were presented at Expo Real in recent years. One of the developers who I know recently counted over 20 projects in that area. Its foreseeable that some developments will fall by the wayside, because not (yet?) enough tenants or users in view. Nevertheless, it has been decided to close the other Berlin airports – Tempelhof already closed down recently and Tegel will follow – and that means that many firms around the former airports will move to BBI and that means there will be a good demand for rental space.

Tourism numbers have been rising in Berlin in recent years and the airport of Tegel is at the limits of its capacities. One is discussing already if the planning for BBI is for the right size or too small. I am expecting many positive impulses for the City and its economy from the new international flight connections to and from BBI.

If one looks a bit more south east of the Schoenefeld Airport area you find land for unbelievably low prices. Is it worthwhile to buy land and just wait?

I.R.: The question is what the community development plan says. If there exists a so-called B-plan, one has to determine carefully what development is approvable per the plan. I would not risk to invest into residential developments, the distance to the center of Berlin is too far and many suburban areas are not well connected to the public transport system. As I already mentioned, the competition is very strong, and whoever buys and develops there, has to bring a good financial cushion as the yield will only come in distant future.

Where do you see particular risks in the Berlin market, now that the “Hype” is over?

I.R.: As already pointed out, in Berlin nothing is more important than location, location, location. In no other city the value appreciation is so tightly coupled with the location. The gap between good and bad locations will become larger.

What would you recommend in particular?

I.R.: To live in the central areas where the buildings from the founding period – late 19^th century – can be found. That are areas like Prenzlauerberg, Kreuzberg, Schöneberg etc.

A last question regarding your firm. How is the current situation, what are you specializing in?

I.R.: As a German-Irish office we work mainly for English speaking property investors who want to invest in Germany. Our niche is to accompany real estate business from the beginning to end, like purchase, conversion, refurbishment, assessing appreciations, and to educate the client in English about this. Our customers are Irish, British and Australian investors, but also more and more German clients. At present we have ongoing projects in Berlin, Hamburg and Cologne and are working on some major studies for armed forces in North-Rhine Westfalia.

long-legged beauty

stripedcat — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 11:22:21 +0000

This morning MeinMann and I were looking at the new Ligne Roset showroom in Rome, and all of a sudden I saw something familiar. The pure lines of the “Scandinavian furniture” of our childhood. Palisander and burnished metal legs. In this case it’s Tanis, a desk by Ligne Roset, re-editing the CM 141 desk by Pierre Paulin, presented at the Salon des Arts Ménagers in the 50s.

This makes us even more proud owners of our palisander sideboard, an original one, manufactured by Musterring. What once was popular good design for the masses now becomes quite premium-price and bo-bo.

Long live Berlin second-hand stores!

From the company’s website:

In seguito al primo successo al Salon des Arts ménagers (Fiera degli elettrodomestici e dei casalinghi) di Parigi nel 1953, Pierre Paulin avvia nel 1954 la collaborazione con Thonet-France, disegnando in particolare scrivanie e sedie. Proprio in quel periodo progetta la scrivania ”CM 141”. Ligne Roset rivisita questa scrivania nel 2008, con il nome Tanis. Ne rispetta rigorosamente il design originale, ma arricchisce e aggiorna le finiture ”modeste” tipiche di quell’epoca: il piano di scrittura è realizzato in Corian nero o in stratificato nero satinato, abbinandosi alla base in acciaio laccato, mentre il blocco dei due cassetti è impiallacciato in noce naturale. Scrivania composta da un blocco di due cassetti in pannelli truciolari impiallacciati noce in tinta naturale e da un piano di scrittura in Corian nero o in stratificato nero satinato, finiture abbinate alla base in tubolare e listelli piatti di acciaio laccato nero.

And now, what’s up?

stripedcat — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 17:31:16 +0000

One year ago I kick-started the refurbishing process at our 1920s flat in Schöneberg. In the early spring, while the finishing touches were being added…ooops! we decided to double-up and buy another flat, the Little Cub, a small but cuddly 1960s apartment.

Over the Summer I furnished also the second flat and we spent our holidays in both of them. Ab und zu, we would move from one flat to the other, in order to check our ergonomics intuitions, see if something was missing and make room for friends and family who joined us in beautiful Schöneberg.

We collected lots of enthusiastic feedback.

On our 1920s beauty the most frequent comments were: “Look at this magnificent window!” (you see it now as the Header of this blog). “I loove the touch and feel of the old parquet!”. But also the modern evolution of the flat got the thumbs up, especially the bathroom in gray hues and the surprise mezzanine.

The 1960s Cub flat seduces for its balcony view on to the park and the flood of light, making those 30 square meters airy and open. Its German retro 60s design was enhanced by selecting carefully the furniture. A few pieces, not to crowd the space, but the right ones.

In the meantime, the crisis unfolded. One year ago everybody was scared of banking with a Bad Bank. Markets crashed and the like. There were times we asked ourselves if we had done the right move.

With insight, we realized we bought at the bottom of the market (hopefully!) and our monitoring of Schöneberg real estate prices confirmed a thing or two.

First, good locations and nice properties disappeared from the radar, were scarce on the market and retained their value. Second, more mass-market and common properties were abundant and at cheaper prices. But we didn’t want a property without caractère in the first place, so no regrets. Third, it’s more difficult to get mortgages today.

And now, what’s up?

avant-garde retro design

stripedcat — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 21:56:37 +0000

The ugly ducking is back? at Frankfurt auto show the Trabant nT, an electric version with retro-inspired design has been presented. Check out this NYT article…

Flat(s) test

stripedcat — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 22:01:27 +0000

One month in Berlin! We tested both flats…they are gorgeous indeed. Finishing touches on flat number 2…more info in the coming days!

The KINO INTERNATIONAL lamp!!

stripedcat — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 18:46:10 +0000

In an earlier post I was referring to those difficult years, the 60s. The media give us today a golden vision (very much an American one) but those years were not so sorgenlos…neither in Italy and nor in Berlin.

Our WestBerlin 60s flat had to contain some reference to the Divided City that Berlin began to be in those years. So, DDR design. And possibly the best one.

I found this lamp. The shape is classic, a standing metal part with a white cylinder-shaped textured lampshade. But what a texture! The material used for the cylinder must some sort of Ost-polymer, and as soon as I saw it, it remembered to me the external wall of the KINO INTERNATIONAL on Karl-Marx-Allee. The Eastern Bloc idea of what the sorgenlos 60s had to be…

If I will be lucky, also the next lamp will be, for the materials used, an architectural quote of an OstBerlin landmark. Fingers crossed…

This wall was reproduced on a Berlin compilation of 2003 I quite like, F.U.N., featuring the wunderbar Tiefschwarz & Eric D’Clark “Blow”…

The palisander sideboard…

stripedcat — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 15:34:34 +0000

The 60s flat is very small, yet it has a beautiful vista overlooking the park and the pond and a nice balcony. I wanted some sense of continuity between outside and indoor and this was the leading idea in looking for a wooden sideboard. A functional storage unit, possibly from the 60s. With burnished metal legs – not stainless steel – in “Swedish style”, as we call it in Italy.

The budget constraint was quite tight, at the same time I wanted to continue if possible on the handcrafted note, even if it had to be an industrial product. Since industrial objects of the 60s were produced on a smaller scale…there were chances to find something well manufactured. And once more I found exactly what I wanted.

I found a beautiful, simple and linear Musterring sideboard of the early 60s in yet another Schöneberg store. Palisander finish, brown mat metal legs: exactly what I was looking for!

The piece of furniture is perfect, as though it had been produced a year ago. And the other good thing is, after a bit of negotiation, it ended costing like a standard ikea sideboard, about 200 eur. Without flat packs and montage. Magic Schöneberg!

Blond plywood inside, with a removable shelf (functional), it still conserves its original sticker on the inside of one of the two doors. Voila’, a German iconic brand of the 60s! As I came back to Rome, I found in my inbox a message…my friend from Lugano had sent me this link…great minds think alike!

Three pillars of the living-room are there. Good value for money and all reincarnations of previous furniture lives. The only emissions were the 10 minutes of so by van in the Kiez. Zero packaging. Very umweltfreundlich!

As per the lighting, more second-hand will follow. One piece is secured (curious eh?), the other maybe is still waiting for me in one window shop…or maybe not…we’ll see. The table and chairs hunt will provide a bit of Abenteuer for next week, and with that the living room fourth and last pillar will be set.

Of course I am planning a linden-green wall against which the palisander cabinet will look even more gorgeous! Even in the winter we want to remember the green golden shade of the Linden trees…

The purple sofabed (or vintage IKEA)

stripedcat — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 14:58:03 +0000

More recycling and more second-hand! Or vintage IKEA…if you like the idea!

Our friends in Viktoria Luise Platz had just bought pretty sofa, but with hindsight it proved to be a dash too small. Coincidentally, I had a crush exactly on that shade of crushed plum purple, but that specific IKEA sofabed oh my god was no longer available in the catalogue…

Deal! With a little help by D. for putting all the pieces together in the right order, the sofabed landed in the 60s flat in good company with the green glass shelf!

After all, green and purple go well together, they are my favourite colors. And such a small flat needs easy pieces, but with a soul and an intriguing past!

Zero-emissions, and on budget…

The green glass bookshelf

stripedcat — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 14:37:56 +0000

Flashback.

In May I visited a dusty second-hand shop in Nolle and I fell in love with a small green glass bookshelf…it was even dustier than the shop itself, full of quincailleries, but I saw through all the clutter the simplicity and madness of the piece. The mad artisan who built it used only green glass panels. Nothing else. The four supporting pillars were made of glass panels, cut to mesure, four facets.

I am not very much into glass shelves, but I love green glasses, bottles, plates etc. So the shelf was unusual. So unusual I didn’t dare to buy it, but when back in Rome I asked my friend in Viktoria Luise Platz to adopt on my behalf the dusty orphan (another one, after the DDR benches!) because all of a sudden I had to have it! She was so nice to go and block the object at the store, even if the risk that someone else would fall for such a quirky piece seemed quite low to her…and I agree!

The reason why I noticed the little green orphan stems from a product presented at the Salone del Mobile, which I didn’t particularly like, but which titillated my interest in green transparent materials, like Linden leaves and green glass…

With an adventurous delivery – a massive glass shelf is neither light, nor easy to handle – the green glass shelf now sits in the little 60s flat.

Hand-crafted, original, unique, zero-emissions, recycled, sixty euros well spent!

Unfortunately no photos available yet, but that was just the beginning…the rest of the furniture would follow from this first inspiration…

Photo: treehugger