In Munich's district Pasing-Obermenzing, near Nymphenburger Schlosspark, we celebrated the topping-out ceremony of our housing project PANDION PENTA on September 11th. With more than 400 guests, it was the largest topping-out ceremony in the history of our company.

Whether floating villages in Southeast Asia, houseboats in California, skyscrapers in the United Arab Emirates or entire living quarters in Germany: life on and by the water has worldwide a long tradition. In the last few years, there has been a strong demand in Germany for land and waterfront living space - and the trend is rising. In the new edition of our magazine "Lebensraum" you can read what concepts are needed for the development and use of areas on and near the water and how this alternative lifestyle is organized. Let yourself be infected by the fascination of water through breathtaking architecture, dreamlike surroundings and personal insights.

PANDION’s CEO Reinhold Knodel expresses his opinions on real estate speculation in a commentary in the Immobilien Zeitung from 21 August. A complete industry has now established itself in the property sector with the sole purpose of speculating with real estate, condemns Knodel. Planning permission is only applied for in a number of cases so that land and property can be sold ready for development – often with no genuine interest in building at all. This practice is forcing prices up, says Knodel, contravenes entrepreneurial responsibility and makes work harder for developers who actually want to build: “Anyone who dares to actually build on an overpriced site has to calculate very generously and cannot afford to make a mistake.” The industry thus only has itself to blame about the discussion concerning the introduction of a building order.

We celebrated the topping-out ceremony for our new residential and office block project PANDION FRANCIS on 21 August in a central location on the site of the former Franciscan monastery on Ost- and Immermannstraße. We were joined by around 200 guests on the 11th floor of the office high-rise to celebrate the completion of the building’s shell, where they could satisfy themselves of the progress of the construction work and enjoy the view over Dusseldorf in the best of weather. “We are delighted to have reached an important milestone with the PANDION FRANCIS topping-out ceremony in the heart of Düsseldorf’s inner city. We have been involved in new residential and commercial building projects in the state capital for many years and will continue to do so in future,” explained Klaus Küppers, Head of Project Development at PANDION.