There are still a few weeks left before the Munich farmers sow the first seed of the year in their fields. But on the field on Truderinger Strasse, no one is allowed to get started with the tractor this year. The six-hectare site in Berg am Laim is building land. In a few years, almost 2,000 people will live there. Exploration drilling for geothermal energy is currently being carried out on the site. Another construction project in the corner is also becoming more concrete.
The 820 residential units on the field on Truderinger Strasse should be completed in two years, if the project developer – the Büschl Group – has their way. But: “The exact schedule of the project on Truderinger Strasse depends on when building permission is granted,” says spokesman Stephan Heller. There is already a draft for the development plan, but the city council still has to decide on the final version. Construction work can then begin on the site. According to the planning department, the plan is to be submitted to the city council for a resolution at the end of the year.
In addition to apartments, urgently needed day-care centers for the city district are also to be built on the site south of the historic railway workers’ settlement and north of Hansjakobstraße. A small neighborhood center with space for shops and social infrastructure is also planned. The biggest point of contention in the project in the past was a 15-storey high-rise building, which rises 47 meters high on the southwestern edge of the new development area and will thus set another new high point in the district after the Neo office and residential tower in nearby Baumkirchen-Mitte.
A new residential area is to be built on the open space in Berg am Laim.
(Photo: Robert Haas)
At the point where the high-rise could come onto the field, there is a meadow that has also been discussed for years. The green area has been leased by the Katholischesiedlungswerk München GmbH (KSWM), whose main shareholder is the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising. The company manages and leases several blocks of flats and terraced houses in the vicinity. On the lawn there is a playground and tennis courts. Football is played there in the summer, and dog owners go for a walk all year round. The green area is part of a decades-old mountain on the Laimer wish to bring the underground part of the Hachinger Bach back to the surface. In order for the project to succeed, the city has been negotiating with several property owners for years – so far without an agreement.
The Catholic Church represents several interests at this point – as the tenant of the playground, but also as the owner of the surrounding properties. For example, the Catholic Settlement Organization wants to demolish a garage courtyard at Hansjakobstraße 53a in order to build apartments there. The project is still in the planning phase, a spokesman for the settlement works does not want to comment on it at this point in time. What is certain is that the more than 80 above-ground individual garages behind the KSWM building blocks are to be removed. The extent of the new development is not yet clear. In the past there had been various planning approaches, some of which were discarded again.
In any case, the planning department has received an application for a preliminary decision, in which the new construction of apartments – proportionately publicly funded – with associated parking spaces in an underground car park has been queried. How tall the new building can be depends on the environment. The existing buildings from the post-war period have four floors, while eight floors were originally planned for the residential buildings in the new development area. But: “The planned development in the area of the future development plan for Truderinger Feld is not part of the relevant, defining surroundings,” says a spokesman for the planning department.