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[MKlop]

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ECB to Build New Headquarters, as Currency Stumbles

The ECB is probably the only major central bank in the world that shares space with a restaurant and nightclub, called Living XXL.

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[atomez]

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ECB to Build New Headquarters, as Currency Stumbles

FRANKFURT—As doubts swirl about the future of the euro, its 16 members are sending a strong signal of their mutual devotion: They're building a place together.

The president of the European Central Bank, Jean-Claude Trichet, is due to officially kick off construction Wednesday on a new €850 million ($1.05 billion) headquarters along Frankfurt's Main River, the most significant step to date to give the euro a permanent home—but one that nonetheless has dragged on for a dozen years.

The ECB has longed to abandon its rented 1970s-era EuroTower digs in the heart of Frankfurt's financial center. It has occupied the high-rise since 1994, when the pre-euro ECB was known as the European Monetary Institute. The ECB is probably the only major central bank in the world that shares space with a restaurant and nightclub, called Living XXL.



The new home, in Frankfurt's edgier East End, will consist of two towers—one 41 floors high and the other 44 floors—joined by a massive conference and visitor center where a historic fruit-and-vegetable market once stood.

"The design of our future premises should reflect the values we regard as essential to our activities. We are committed to transparency, integrity, excellence and efficiency," Mr. Trichet has said, spelling out his vision for the new building.

Mr. Trichet won't move into the new space himself when it is finally completed. His eight-year term expires in October 2011. The move-in date isn't until 2014, and that's if all goes according to plan. The ECB is independently responsible for setting monetary policy for the 16-member euro zone. The larger European Union, which is based in Brussels, monitors economic and fiscal policies for its 27 members.

Europe's debt crisis has revealed that the euro zone's foundations at times fall short of Mr. Trichet's lofty ambitions. Owing in part to loopholes in the euro zone's budget rules, the euro has come under intense pressure since Greece became the first debt-laden euro-zone country to face the risk of default, kicking off a contagion that has threatened Portugal, Ireland and even Spain.