The city will probably lose out. And the tenants will continue to worry about their future at Thalkirchner Strasse 80. One of the most fiercely contested houses in the city is being sold again. At the Old South Cemetery you can see how slim the city’s chances are when it competes with private investors in insolvency proceedings.
After two sales of the property since 2016, most of the 24 apartments are empty. One of the remaining residents is Tilman Schaich, whose experiences made him one of the best-known tenant activists and founder of the “Ausspeculate” initiative. A few weeks ago it became public that the city could buy the house. The owner company was broke, the insolvency administrator was looking for buyers. The city, in turn, has money left over because it is no longer allowed to exercise its right of first refusal. In insolvency proceedings, however, it can access it, at least in theory.
At the end of October, the Greens and SPD asked the municipal department to ask the insolvency administrator whether he wanted to sell to a municipal housing association. Last week, Stefan Jagel, City Councilor of the Left, wanted to know from the municipal department what’s going on now. The house of Kristina Frank (CSU) then informed the city council. The house was said to be as good as sold. Did the administration react too late?
Mayor Verena Dietl (SPD) sent a statement to the press: The municipal department had “several times informed” the insolvency administrator that they were interested. “It is all the more regrettable that the agent, despite the city’s clear intentions, did not seriously involve the city in the process and the property will probably go to someone else. We have done everything to get the property and will continue to try. ” That sounds as if the town hall wanted to pass the buck to a nasty realtor.
Yes, the city wasn’t exactly fast, but that has its reasons
This is aimed at Axel Bierbach, the insolvency administrator. He rejects the accusation when asked by SZ: “The city of Munich had the same opportunities as all other interested parties to participate in the sales process.” He pointed out the urgency to the city “from the start”, after all the process has been running since summer 2021.
Bierbach outlines the following process: First contact with the city on November 11; two months later, early January, non-disclosure agreement; on January 10 documents to the city. Then it took another month before a city delegation visited the house last Monday. The bottom line is that Bierbach is a tit for tat: the administration is too lazy to keep up with this property.
The municipal department, in turn, does not want to let that sit on its own. As early as November, a spokeswoman explains, the broker announced that the sale was “well advanced”. In addition, the broker had given it to understand that the necessary investment sum and the timing for the city were “hardly realistic”. According to the spokeswoman, the sale was driven forward with a focus on “fast completion”.
But the city would have to involve “several departments” in such a sales process, as well as the municipal housing companies, and also coordinate with the city council. You also have to be responsible with tax money. The house is not only expensive, but also encumbered with high risks. The finance department refused a purchase, but the municipal department would still like to fulfill the wish of the majority factions and access it. The bottom line is: Yes, the city wasn’t exactly fast, but there are reasons for that.
Some in the city council now want the administration to be better equipped for future sales processes. Stefan Jagel demands “early transparency towards the city council”. And Anna Hanusch, parliamentary group leader of the Greens, wishes that the administration would tackle such real estate opportunities with more vehemence in the future. And against which investor did the city lose the race? The insolvency administrator is still silent.