It is clear that the tech giant from the USA wants to continue to grow on the property on Seidlstrasse. It is understandable that the Free State wants to cede it. But he has to choose the right path.
For people who are committed to Munich as a business location, these were words that sounded like music from heaven. The city is “the largest development site in Europe,” said Apple CEO Johny Srouji during a visit this week. “Many engineers would like to work here.” As it used to be in Silicon Valley, his boss Tim Cook added. Silicon Valley, Apple, Munich: The short sequence shows the enormous advertising value the expansion of the US group has for the local economy – flanked by giants like Google and Amazon and local tech growths like Celonis and Personio, all of which are also present in Massively expand Munich.
In this respect it is understandable from an economic point of view if the Free State wants to cede a property on Seidlstrasse to Apple, so that its location in Maxvorstadt can continue to grow. What is incomprehensible, however, is that the state government is apparently – as reported by Apple representatives in the district committee – ready to sell the property instead of assigning it as a heritable building right, i.e. for a period of several decades. Especially since the Apple people said at that meeting that they could also live with a heritable building right. It is possible that the group will be tougher in the confidential negotiations and insist on a purchase. The state government refrains from clarifying the question of sale or heritable building right, it treats the possible real estate deal with Apple as a state secret.
That’s why it currently seems as if the Free State would prefer the brief financial advantage (the selling price for the property could be a good 200 million euros) to a far-sighted asset policy. It would be a major political mistake, because it would deprive future generations of the opportunity to have a piece of valuable land in the state capital – and at the same time would leave the expected increase in value of the property to private individuals. The Free State is already making this mistake to a lesser extent by selling off residential properties in the Hartmannshofen settlement.
A sale would be all the more incomprehensible because the Free State has a good negotiating position: Apple has established itself in Munich for good reasons, wants the property on Seidlstrasse at all costs and will also accept a building lease.