Where tractors once plowed the fields, the Anna Quarter in Karlsfeld will soon be built: including the Anna Tower, rooftop bar and a good mix of living, working and local amenities. Employees of the investor CG Elementum recently presented the plans for this at a public dialogue in the Karlsfeld community center. The Ludl site, which was once used for agriculture, is located between Münchner Straße and Nibelungenstraße, next to the listed Ludl Chapel and opposite the Neue Mitte. The construction project, “in the heart of the community”, as Mayor Stefan Kolbe (CSU) called it, has been dragging on for years: there were already citizen workshops in 2018 and 2019, and the municipal council even agreed on a development plan in 2020, but then it bought it new investor the site and asked for changes in the development plan. These were presented to the residents of Karlsfeld during the citizens’ dialogue, and they were also able to say what they wanted in the Anna Quarter.
Around 39,000 square meters of the site are to be used commercially, and around 27,000 square meters of living space are to be created, including one to five room apartments, 30 percent of which will be subsidized housing. In addition, doctor’s surgeries, offices, fitness studios, gastronomy, trade, a daycare center and around 1100 parking spaces are planned. The project developer at CG Elementum Tim Schiller also promised a lot in his presentation with regard to the topic of sustainability: Among other things, a “beautiful green corridor”, green roof areas and photovoltaic systems for energy supply are to be created in the Anna Quarter, and Karlsfeld’s district heating is to be used. At the start of construction, his colleague Ulf Graichen said that excavation pits are to be dug this year, and construction should start next year: “It will probably take five to six years from the groundbreaking ceremony to the last curtain being hung up,” he estimated. Until then, a legally binding development plan is still required.
Dissatisfaction with the shape of the Anna Tower
After the presentation, interested members of the audience were allowed to ask questions. There was a comment on the Anna Tower with rooftop bar, which is to become the figurehead of the quarter on Münchner Straße. The municipal council originally wanted an elliptical tower, but now the shape is more like a parallelogram. That annoyed one citizen: “In Karlsfeld we already have enough square things. I was hoping that an ellipse would be built.” But angular room shapes are better suited to accommodating desks in offices, for example, explained Christian Hörmann, moderator of the evening and managing director of the Cima advice center for urban and regional development.
Senior advisory councilor Günter Krebs expressed his wish for two self-cleaning, public unisex toilets in the Anna district: “They are not only important for senior citizens,” he emphasized. But Hörmann then explained that these self-cleaning toilets were expensive and broke again and again, he would recommend the “Nette toilet” concept, in which restaurateurs and businesspeople make their quiet places available free of charge and put a sticker with “Nette toilet” on them. stick it on her door. However, the Senior Advisory Board was not satisfied with that.
Citizens write down their wishes for the Anna Quarter
The approximately 60 citizens then examined what the planned district could look like in a miniature model and on folding walls. Posters were stuck on it, on which those interested could write down their ideas and wishes, and after three quarters of an hour the following could be read: “Third lane only for turning into the district”, “Sculpture in the park”, “Two unisex toilets”, “Art under construction” or “residence places for young people”. Members of the youth council also came to the citizens’ dialogue. 19-year-old Sana Tawaf complained, for example, that there were too few meeting places for young people in Karlsfeld. In winter, the Karlsfelder See is not illuminated and when young people meet in the new center, residents often call the police. Ulf Graichen replied that there will certainly be seating and green spaces in the quarter, some of which are private, some public and illuminated at night. Other citizens also wanted a quality of stay in the new quarter for young and old, for example in the form of benches. Another wish expressed was that the traffic on Münchner Strasse should not increase.
Green roofs with photovoltaic systems are to be built in Karlsfeld’s Anna district.
(Photo: Niels P. Jørgensen)
Art in the building, park benches or public toilets – these were just a few of the wishes that the people of Karlsfeld expressed at the citizens’ dialogue.
(Photo: Niels P. Jørgensen)
It will take around five to six years for the quarter to be completed, said Ulf Graichen from investor CG Elementum.
(Photo: Niels P. Jørgensen)
Karlsfeld native Erika Seidenspinner, who is also a member of the Nature Conservation Union, remained skeptical. She said, “I think this plan is terrifying.” After all, the district means a mountain of tasks for the municipality: If the number of inhabitants increases, new schools will have to be built again, which costs money: “And that means even more debt.” She also fears that the volume of traffic will increase through the Anna Quarter and will further burden the already busy Münchner Straße. Project developer Tim Schiller promised that further traffic reports would be prepared.
In addition, Seidenspinner finds it a pity that so much living space is being built on the Ludl site: “We were always promised trade” – so that the trade taxes will bubble up and the financial situation of the community will finally improve. She is afraid that the conflict like that at the Karlsfeld Bayernwerkgelände will be repeated, where the community is also fighting with the investor to have more business instead of living space.
“We develop, build and then sell”
A Karlsfelder, who wishes to remain anonymous, finds the plans for the Anna district “very urban and quite beautiful, there’s something about it,” he said while looking at the model pictures on the folding walls. He can also understand the decision in favor of the tower in the form of a parallelogram: “You simply bring in more commercial space” – and that is advantageous if the project developer CG Elementum wants to sell the building again after completion. Because that’s the plan, Ulf Graichen has already announced: “We develop, build and then sell”, but the real estate developer is “not a locust”, but sells to conservative institutions such as insurance companies or civil servant funds.
How is it going until then? The moderator Hörmann promised that the ideas of the citizens will be taken up on the way to the new development plan. Mayor Kolbe added: “The municipal council will also deal with the suggestions.”