Editing Potsdamer Platz (section)

== Future ==
{{Update|section|date=October 2023}}
[[File:Potsdamer Platz with Site of Potsdamer Bahnhof 2005.jpg|250px|thumb|Looking south over Potsdamer Platz in September 2005. The long green strip is [[Tilla Durieux Park]], the site of the former Potsdamer Bahnhof and its approaches. The Park Kolonnaden development is on its left (eastern) side, while the Daimler development parallels it down the right (west) side. In the left foreground is Leipziger Platz, while in the right foreground are parts of the Sony and Beisheim Centers.]]

Whilst on the surface the new Potsdamer Platz appears so far to have lived up to its expectations as a futuristic centre of commerce at the heart of Europe's youngest capital city, there has been much debate as to just how successful it really is. Certainly its long-term success and viability have become much harder to judge since the recent worldwide economic downturn, a situation compounded by the actions of its two principal owner-occupiers. [[Daimler AG|Daimler]] and [[Sony]] caused a major surprise on 2 October 2007 when both announced that they were putting their respective complexes at Potsdamer Platz on the market. Whilst neither intended to move out, both felt it preferable to rent the space from new owners rather than continue to be the owners themselves (and so be responsible for the buildings' upkeep and maintenance). Daimler had recently come through a painful separation from their former American subsidiary [[Chrysler]] and needed a quick injection of cash in order to refocus on automotive production. The announcement came on the ninth anniversary of their complex's official opening, a fact not lost on many people. Sony meanwhile, put their decision down to a need to review their global strategy in the face of a fast-changing worldwide economic climate.

On 17 December 2007, Daimler announced that they were selling their entire complex of 19 buildings at Potsdamer Platz to SEB Asset Management, a [[Frankfurt]]-based subsidiary of the Swedish banking group [[Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken|SEB]]. On 28 February 2008, Sony made a similar announcement, of impending sale to a consortium led by American [[investment banking]] giant (now [[bank holding company]]) [[Morgan Stanley]]. Both deals were finalised by the end of March 2008. Whilst the amounts involved have not been publicly disclosed, it is believed that neither Daimler nor Sony recouped all of their original investments (what Daimler managed to get was reportedly well short).

The development is a commercial success at street level. The numbers of shoppers visiting the Arkaden, guests passing through the doors of the many bars, cafes and restaurants, theatres and cinemas, hotels and casino (not to mention passengers thronging the platforms of the stations), all point to a thriving focal point right at the very heart of Berlin. Detractors however, may draw attention to the floors above and point out the high percentage of office and residential space that allegedly still stands empty more than a decade after its completion. Although examples of "over-provision" like this can be found all over Berlin, it is Potsdamer Platz that, rightly or wrongly, has been used to highlight the problem.

The other major sticking point, which is reportedly causing concern at government level, is that the majority of people going to Potsdamer Platz are visitors to the city, implying that the original vision of the development as a linking element attracting Berliners themselves, and Berliners from both sides of the former divide, has not really materialised. There are criticisms that the development does not sit easily with or connect with its surroundings, and as a result Berliners have had difficulty accepting it as ''theirs'' (despite the fact that the choice of Hilmer & Sattler's masterplan was partly because it was the only one to address the way the development juxtaposed with the [[Kulturforum|Cultural Forum]] immediately to the west, although the Cultural Forum has itself faced similar criticisms of its own). Another, more psychological factor that has played a part here is that a long-standing mutual distrust or [[antipathy]] felt between former East Berliners and West Berliners (''[[Ossi (East Germans)|Ossi]]s'' and ''[[Wessi]]s'' according to the well-known slang terms), is still very much in evidence in the city and elsewhere in Germany, and bold civil engineering projects and architectural statements are not going to make it go away by themselves. Politicians past and present have been accused of short-sightedness in speculating that they would.

It was feared that the economic downturn might exacerbate all these problems. On the whole, however, Potsdamer Platz seems to have weathered the storm. Meanwhile, Deutsche Bahn AG were due to relocate to a purpose-built new structure at Berlin's new main train station ([[Berlin Hauptbahnhof]]), when the lease on the Sony Center's Bahn Tower expired in 2010. However, in April 2008 Deutsche Bahn announced that they were seeking to extend the lease on the Bahn Tower by another three years. This deal was finalised in late 2009.  Since then the lease has been extended to 15 years.