A group of German-American investors plans to convert a huge former US army barracks in Berlin into a luxury city housing complex named after legendary Hollywood star Marilyn Monroe.

The US army's McNair barracks in Berlin's south west have been idle since 1994 when American soldiers left the city following the German capital's historic reunification.

This left Berlin city authorities in a quandary about what to do with the facility.

Now, a Berlin property firm, S+P Real Estate GmbH, together with an American investor, is to invest 70 million euros (91 million dollars) to transform the 600-metre-long premises in the city's Zehlendorf district into upmarket apartments. Work on the project is scheduled to start early next year.

A home away from home

For decades after World War II the McNair Barracks was home to three permanently assigned US army battalions.

Thousands of American servicemen were billeted at the barracks during the city's post-war division into four military zones based on the victorious allied powers.

Now, the former US army barracks is to receive a new name - Monroe Park - after Hollywood legend Marilyn Monroe. The barracks were named after Lieutenant General Leslie J. McNair who was put in charge of mobilizing and training US Army ground forces after America's entry into the Second World War.

Additionally, the investors are seeking permission to have a boulevard at the McNair Barracks site called Billy Wilder Street, in a tribute to the late popular Austrian-born film director who had worked for a spell as a journalist in the city in the 1920s.

Rented out

Built in the late 1930s, the huge complex was originally used as a manufacturing facility. During the war, military equipment was manufactured at the complex.

For decades after the war the German government, on behalf of the US government, paid the owners of the site a yearly rental for its use as an army barracks.

The Berlin architects firm Tchoban, which designed Europe's tallest office block in Moscow, has been commissioned to handle the conversion project. The McNair Barracks was given a heritage listing during the early 1990's.

Why would anyone choose to live in a former army barracks? "Our project offers considerable upmarket housing advantages," said Berlin investor Udo Schloemer.

The building complex, shaped like a giant fireside fender, will contain apartments ranging from 60 to 260 square metres in size, with designer kitchens, parquet floors, and other quality fixtures.

29 November 2006

Copyright DPA with Expatica 2006

Subject: Monroe Park, McNair Barracks, German property, property in Germany, Berlin real estate, real estate in Berlin