New departure for Lamarr department store: partial demolition and living room offensive!

New departure for Lamarr department store: partial demolition and living room offensive!

Mariahilfer Straße, 1060 Wien, Österreich - The “Lamarr” project on Mariahilfer Straße is facing a fundamental change. After a long stagnation and the sudden stop due to the bankruptcy of the Signa Group in autumn 2023, the largely unfinished department store has now moved into new hands. The Stumpf Development GmbH, an offshoot of the Stumpf Group, has acquired the property for around 100 million euros and is planning a comprehensive realignment of the construction project. According to MeinDzirk will be necessary to demolish the existing shell up to the first floor.

What exactly will change? Instead of a consistent luxury department store with 20,000 square meters of retail space, which was originally supposed to open for spring 2025, the investor is now using a mixed use. Around 200 apartments, reduced sales areas and a hotel in the back of the property are planned. This could be an attractive solution in times of increasing demand for living space in the city.

The challenges of the time

The redesign of the "Lamarr" project comes at a critical time for the Vienna housing market. Experts warn of an impending lack of housing because the real estate completions will fall strongly in the coming years. The EHL real estate agent Karina Schunker reports that many projects have been stopped and the uncertainty of affordable living space is growing. By 2025, the completions could decrease by up to 53%, as The press reports.

The original concept of the Signa, which also included a hotel and a public park on the roof terrace, should give way to the new plans. Stumpf Development GmbH wants to work with the City of Vienna to develop a usage concept that meets the requirements of the current market situation. The construction site is still charged with debt of 390 million euros, which means that every buyer has to repay these debts before the project can be made future -proof.

outlook on the construction progress

The dismantling of the existing structures is scheduled to begin in July 2024, while the structural measures in the underlying should start from the end of 2024. The building construction is planned for early 2026, with a desired completion of the new Lamarr in 2028. publicly accessible areas, such as the almost 1,000 square meter roof terrace, should remain part of the new concept. High -quality business areas are preserved in a reduced form in order to meet the needs of future residents.

With the sale and realignment of the Lamarr department store, a new chapter starts in Vienna. It remains to be seen how the company around Georg Stumpf will master the huge challenge that the historical property and the current market situation have.