„I come here every lunchtime“, says Norbert Wenzel and opens his cardboard box. Today on the menu: Sushi and pickled ginger. „But the burgers are also absolutely fantastic“, he adds and gets comfortable on the Spanish steps. He works for an advertising agency in the neighbourhood and comes here regularly for lunch. „When the sun shines, there is a real Mediterranean feeling.“

After a few teething troubles during the construction and marketing of the area between Fried­rich-Breu­er-Stra­ße, Rat­haus and St.-Au­gust­iner-Stra­ße, the spot is now a popular meeting point. „I am happy with my location“, resumes Claus Sauer of the burger restaurant „Hans im Glück“ after the first year. „The Beuel people are affectionate and relaxed. It is not as stressfully busy here as in other places. We could not wish for a better location.“

He serves his guests not only inside the restaurant but also on the large exterior area and on the steps. But not only his customers spotted the popular places with a view of the bustling activity at the bus stops. „Particularly teenagers love sitting here on the steps. But unfortunately, they leave a lot of rubbish behind, which lies around for days sometimes“, says Rüdiger Hartung from the Mohren Apotheke. „But it got a bit better recently.“ All in all, he has the same attitude as Sauer: „The location is brilliant. I have no reason to complain. Everything else will fall into place over time and develop properly.“

Anh Tuan Nguyen is also very happy. For two months already he runs the Sushi bar „Eat happy“ at the entrance of the supermarket. „I am surprised at how quickly we got popular here. Especially at lunchtime, we are very busy. At times, we nearly can’t produce quickly enough as the food flies out the door.“

Helga Unglaub is bothered by the hygienic state of the square. „Wherever you look, there’s rubbish“, says the Geislar woman and looks around. „This should be better looked after.“After all, many people get in and out of buses here. What kind of an impression do they get of Beuel? More bins and more seating arrangements would be great, agrees Claus Sauer. „I have informed the city council of these ideas. At the city council they are always very open minded and cooperative“, he praises the officials. „I cannot complain about the collaboration with them.“ To him, the underground car park with 120 parking spots is also a mark on the plus side. „Bright, modern, big. For me, the underground car park at the Konrad-Adenauer-Platz is one of the best I know“, says Sauer.

Although Beuel has plenty of parking spots around the city hall, there is an idea „to install a proper car-park routeing system to support local trading and to make Beuel additionally attractive for outside customers“, states Paul Ahrens of the Business Society Beuel. In regard to visual presentation there are still opportunities to improve. „It is such a massive building. The area around it needs to be designed more freely. In this concrete desert, nobody likes to spend time“, Ahrens thinks. Additional planting and more seats would boost the popularity tremendously. „If the square get prettier, it would be even busier. Which would be good for everyone“, he concludes.

„There are constantly individual ideas to improve properties and sites“, reacts Yvonne Homberg, spokesperson of Swiss Life AG, who owns the building at the Kon­rad-Ade­nau­er-Platz. „We are generally happy with this project. The few remaining free areas are all part of discussions with promising prospective buyers or tenants. And the underground car park is also very popular“, she explained when approached by the General-Anzeiger.

(Original text: Gabriele Immenkeppel; Translation: Mareike Graepel)