Tim Gemünden (Karl Gemünden GmbH & Co. KG), Clemens Jung (GBI AG), Torsten Scholl (Novum Hospitality), Reiner Nittka (GBI AG) — Photo by NOVUM Hospitality

NOVUM Hospitality and project developer GBI AG have started another joint project in laying the foundation for a niu hotel with 344 rooms in Frankfurt. The midscale hotel, in chic design, is being built on Rebstockpark in Leonardo-da-Vinci-Allee, an ideal location for guests of the Main metropolis, with this district being the gateway to the highly frequented exhibition grounds. Opening is expected to be at the end of next year.
Along with niu Coin and niu Charly, niu Air is the third niu hotel to be built in Frankfurt - from more than 50 permanently agreed properties throughout Germany. "Among them are two further project developments with GBI AG, in Hamburg and Mannheim. We truly appreciate the strategic partnership and are pleased to have already implemented agile processes and have been able to implement the niu rollout so efficiently", explains David Etmenan, Chief Executive Officer & Owner of NOVUM Hospitality.
Additional supply combines with increasing demand and a very healthy hotel market. According to PwC's European Cities Hotel Forecast, nightly room revenue in Frankfurt rose by 3.7 percent to 85 Euros in 2017. Earnings are also forecast to continue rising over the next two years. "Frankfurt's potential as a banking and trade fair city continues to grow," explains Jan Winterhoff, Director of Hotel Development at project developer GBI AG. "Positive market development is also supported by the effects of Brexit. In 2017, more than nine million hotel nights were recorded in Frankfurt for the first time, exactly 9.544 million. Compared to ten years ago (5.383 million overnight stays), this represents an increase of 77.3 percent.
Like all hotels of the niu brand, this property has been given an additional name that has a regional reference pertaining to its location. In the case of Leonardo-da-Vinci-Allee, the nickname is Air. Air is a reference to technical aviation and an honour to these first pioneers, names of whom can also be found in the surrounding street names. Leonardo da Vinci conceived the first flying machines as early as 1490. Not only the name is tailored to the location at every niu hotel, but also the extraordinary interior. The design concept of the niu Air has therefore been based on the first attempts at aviation along with Zeppelin & Co - yet interpreted in an extraordinary and modern way.
The design concept is complimented by socio-cultural cooperation with non-profit association Viva con Agua, because urban art mixes with the hotel brand at niu Air. As part of this collaboration, selected artists who are involved in Viva con Agua Arts and the Millerntor Gallery have artistically redesigned the hotel façades in in an urban manner - and for a good cause. The proceeds flow into the projects of charitable water initiatives. Initially, the focus is on the current Viva con Agua project in Uganda.
GBI AG has extensive experience in hotel development in Frankfurt am Main. This includes two mixed use projects in the European quarter in the Main metropolis, for example, combining several hotel brands from different segments, integrating student housing and even a day care centre. "This allows us to assess the potential of the area around the trade fair well," says Clemens Jung, CEO of GBI AG: "We are very happy to be working with a strong, creative brand like niu at this well-connected and well-established location.
NOVUM Hospitality will proceed with more than 50 niu hotels throughout Europe in the next two to three years. At the beginning of February, the niu Cobbles opened in Essen as the first property of the new brand. "Working with such an innovative and creative brand like niu is great fun," says GBI AG CEO Jung. Collaboration through project development is to be strengthened through further expansion of this lifestyle brand.
All niu properties offer an innovative and open Living Lobby as a meeting point not only for hotel guests but also for locals. The most modern digital equipment is another asset of the brand and runs through all hotels. Numerous sockets and USB ports, smart flat screens, ultra-fast WLAN, an Instagram wall, background beats throughout the hotel and Bluetooth speakers in rooms leave nothing to be desired.

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