Benko’s “Lamarr” Ruin – Tear down the block – and build a park!

New shoes, new trousers, new bags – all this is available on every corner of Mariahilfer Straße. And more and more Viennese are wondering: do we really need another department store there? Couldn’t the bankruptcy of Signa and the halt in construction of the shopping block also be an opportunity for the cityscape and the population? As reported, the ‘Lamarr’ project is in a coma – where a shopping temple should have been built, a ruined building is collecting dust next to the barriers.

Plea for a “place of nature”
And in the middle of the construction stop, the editors received an email from reader Peter L. from Neubau: “Mariahilfer Straße already has everything a shopper could wish for. But what is difficult to find: green space, parks, a water playground, a place full of nature.” Many Viennese feel the same in a direct conversation.

Czernohorszky refers to the green offensive
Demolish the building block and create a green space? Vienna Climate Council Member Jürgen Czernohorszky (SPÖ) would only answer the question cautiously: “In view of increasingly hot summers, it is extremely important to protect and expand existing green space as a source of shade, even in densely built-up areas. We pursue this goal with our green offensive. By 2025, 400,000 square meters of green space will have been redesigned or completely redesigned.”

“Great” idea for district leaders
Neubau district leader Markus Reiter (Greens): “The seventh district has about three percent green space. It is our stated goal to increase this share.” And: “There will probably be dozens of offers from real estate investors for ‘Lamarr’ who want to make the highest profit; However, the idea of ​​using vacant and derelict sites for more greenery is as beautiful as it is old.”

Maximum profit – instead of green for the Viennese. But right now, politicians have a unique opportunity to change that. What would you like to see on the Mahü? Shopping or trees, living space or bars? Write to us by email or at “Kronen Zeitung”, editorial office of Vienna, Muthgasse 2, 1190 Vienna.

Curator wants sale before winter
Clemens Richter, for his part, is optimistic that he will not have to deal with the ‘Lamar ruins’ on Mariahilfer Strasse for too much longer. The curator of the department store bankruptcy – ​​which is being negotiated separately from other Benko bankruptcies – reports that there are enough interested parties in the orphaned shell: “Although you should not hope that he will sell it within a week”, But Richter “wants not leave the case unsolved over the winter.”

How the bidding process works
Although Richter does not want to rush the price down and get less for Benko’s creditors, he does want to sell “as quickly and in the best possible way” – that is something they owe to the residents and residents from Vienna. who have to look at the ruins. Richter is currently going through the offers, bidder by bidder: First, information about the ruin and the bidder’s financial standing are exchanged under mutual confidentiality obligations. “Selected interested parties” can then submit their bids.

Richter brought in former CA Immo boss Bruno Ettenauer as an advisory expert, while at the same time abandoning the advice of all previous Benko people. Until the sale can go ahead and the reinforced concrete frame may become a house after all, the city will continue to ensure that everything is in order: the construction police emphasize that they are “in constant coordination” with the two companies responsible for safety and building security. Both performed their “functions to the extent necessary.”