Further construction realistic

Signa-Klotz now on the verge of sale

The workers withdrew from the construction site before Christmas 2023 because Signa's bankruptcy was already foreseeable.

(Bild: Jöchl Martin)

Negotiations on the sale of René Benko's ruined department store on Mariahilfer Strasse are entering the final spurt. Construction could start again before the end of the year

While the ruins of the "Lamarr" department store on Mariahilfer Strasse are still in their petrified state, there is all the more intense activity behind the scenes: bankruptcy trustee Clemens Richter is slowly entering the home stretch of negotiations with the future owner.

Richter goes on to name "five or six bidders" who are still in the running and who have now proven to him that they have the necessary money and concepts to give the concrete skeleton a future again. This also means that none of them have allowed themselves to be scared off by the legal disruptive fire from the corner of a former interested party, which was apparently intended to ruin the price.

I am determined to stick to concluding a contract with the future owner before the winter.

Konkursverwalter Clemens Richter

Legal trouble quickly extinguished
The disturbing fire consisted of a complaint, which in turn led to a dispute being noted in the land register. For the future owner, this would have meant that he might also have to take over the disputes left behind by René Benko along with the house from the Signa bankruptcy. The fact that the public prosecutor's office dropped the charges due to a lack of initial suspicion pleases bankruptcy administrator Richter because of the "signal effect", which should deter any further saboteurs.

Richter is now in active dialog with the remaining bidders. Many of them "currently have many inquiries" about the construction, depending on their own plans for completion and subsequent use. Richter is arranging talks with the people who have worked on the construction so far. Richter's next step will be to set a deadline by which binding bids must be submitted. Early fall seems a realistic timeframe, as the bankruptcy trustee is working diligently on his plan to find a new owner for the building before the onset of winter.

Further construction still realistic this year
According to Richter's estimate, it will take "two to three months" to draw up the contracts. This means there is a chance that construction will continue before the end of the year. After all, all bidders have one goal: to "implement their plans as quickly as possible after winning the contract - after all, they want to earn money with it.