Standstill for months

Ruined department store on Mahü is mothballed

The construction site has been at a standstill for eleven months. There will be at least seven more.

(Bild: Jöchl Martin)

The construction site of the department store skeleton on Vienna's Mariahilfer Strasse will remain dormant for the time being. Construction is not due to continue until next summer at the earliest. This also makes it clear that the owner apparently has new plans for the building.

The hope that the department store construction site in Mariahilfer Strasse would be revived before the end of the year was illusory. The new owner of the Signa bankruptcy property, Viennese real estate tycoon Georg Stumpf, has now let the cat out of the bag - with the announcement that the purchase agreement is now irrevocably valid: he wants to "develop the future use concept" for the property over the coming months. The aim is "to have a coordinated project in place by summer 2025".

New owner probably has new plans for the building
This means that in addition to the eleven months of standstill on the construction site so far, there will be at least seven more, but probably more. The news also surprises insiders. Even bankruptcy trustee Clemens Richter had assumed that construction work would be resumed as quickly as possible, as Stumpf wanted to see a return on his investment as soon as possible. Conversely, this probably means that Stumpf has other plans for the building than its original use as a department store with an adjoining hotel.

Another indication that Stumpf does not simply want to "finish off" the existing building is the original building permit. It is only valid for four years, two and a half of which have already elapsed. In view of this, an owner who accepts a further seven months of standstill does not appear to be particularly attached to the previously approved building project.

Mixed feelings in the district
The district has mixed feelings about the standstill: on the one hand, relief that the Christmas shopping on Mariahilfer Strasse will not be disturbed by construction noise, but on the other, uncertainty about the continued standstill.

City Hall is reacting calmly for the time being and wants to wait and see what plans Stumpf wants to talk about. For the time being, however, construction police chief Gerhard Cech is satisfied that the building finally has an owner again - who is therefore solely responsible for securing the construction site and must now make it winter-proof.