An interesting news item is currently doing the rounds in the real estate world: apparently Environment Minister Leonore Gewessler (Greens) wants to consolidate the new location for the Federal Environment Agency in the final phase of her term.
The branch, which is 100 percent owned by the Republic, will move to Erdberger Lände 40 – 48 in Vienna. The 600 employees of the Federal Environment Agency are expected to move into the new office building at the beginning of 2026. The Federal Environment Agency’s staff is currently spread across four locations in Vienna.
Once upon a time in Klosterneuburg…
In recent years, the search for a new home, which should contain offices as well as laboratories totaling almost 13,000 square meters, has become an almost endless story.
Already in 2017, Environment Minister Andrä Rupprechter (ÖVP) signed an agreement in principle with the Governor of Lower Austria, Johanna Mikl Leitner and the then mayor of Klosterneuburg for a new building on a former barracks site in Klosterneuburg. But after protests from the workforce and several changes in government, the project was put on the back burner. Gewessler had originally announced a decision on how to proceed “in 2020.”
Only at the end of 2023 did the Ministry of the Environment start a structured bidding process for a headquarters of the Federal Environment Agency in Vienna, which provided for a specific schedule: contract conclusion in the third quarter of 2024, relocation in the first quarter of 2026. Again there were delays because a of the twenty providers did not fit. After the two best bidders had reached the final stage, a review procedure was initiated at the Federal Administrative Court.
Application as a “work-life building”
Now the die has probably fallen on Erdberger Lände in the Vienna-Landstrasse. There, the German group Art-Invest Real Estate is revitalizing an office building from 1984, which was last rented by ÖBB. The ENNA project is advertised as a so-called ‘work-life building’.
Art-Invest also includes a fund for investors. One of the group’s shareholders is German construction magnate Kurt Zech (Zech Group), who shortly before the crash of the Signa Group said of the failed Austrian real estate speculator René Benko “that what he has built is truly admirable.”
For the time being, only the following statement was available from Leonore Gewessler’s ministry: “The process of finding a new location for the Federal Environment Agency is in its final stages. Once this is complete, we will inform you of the results.”
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
