High profit achieved

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In Schildorn, the sale of a council-owned plot of land is causing a stir.

(Bild: Pressefoto Scharinger © Daniel Scharinger)

The municipality of Schildorn sold a fully developed building plot in the town center to an ÖVP local councillor for 94,800 euros without a public tender. He announced the construction of affordable housing. Six months later, however, he sold the site on to the WSG for EUR 237,000.

The land deal in Schildorn is "immoral" for Rieder FPÖ district manager Erhard Weinzinger. According to a report in the Wiener Zeitung, the municipality, headed by ÖVP mayor Wolfgang Moser, unanimously decided in April 2022 to sell a municipally owned plot of land in the town center. Buyer: ÖVP parliamentary group leader Gerald Schauer-Weiß. Purchase price: EUR 94,800 for a 1580 square meter plot of land dedicated as building land, which is connected to the sewer, water and electricity network.

Houses should have been built this year
Schauer-Weiß stated that he wanted to build ten terraced houses on the newly acquired plot and two adjoining plots, which he had bought from private individuals in March 2022 - also for 60 euros per square meter. There was talk of affordable living space. The houses should have been ready by the end of 2024.

150 instead of 60 euros per square meter
However, there is currently no sign of this. As it turned out, the meadow was sold on. Price: 237,000 euros, i.e. 150 euros per square meter. The Gemeinnützige Wohn- und Siedlergemeinschaft (WSG) was the successful bidder. It paid Schauer-Weiß a total of 428,850 euros for all three areas for a total of 2859 square meters.

Politician wants to know nothing about enrichment
According to the newspaper report, Gerald Schauer-Weiß does not see himself as a middleman, nor did he enrich himself. He wanted to set up his own company together with MKAW Immobilien to develop the project. He had expert reports drawn up, developed a concept together with the municipality and had plans drawn up. It was all a lot of work and cost money. In the end, however, he sold the land to the WSG because it wanted to adopt his concept. The WSG not only paid for the meadow, but also for the idea, the plans and the preparatory work, he explains. "I didn't have much left," he says.

Plans slightly adapted
WSG confirms that it has only "slightly adapted" the plans. It was offered the property by an estate agent, according to a statement to WZ. "We had no information about what happened before our purchase." The WSG was therefore unaware that the property had been sold for less than half the price a few months earlier.