“Do the Derzbachhof with us” was the slogan for an unusual idea on the housing market in this city. If you contribute your skills to the household, “the rent can be reduced”. Stefan Höglmaier, head of the Grünwald real estate company Euroboden, explained this in an SZ interview in November 2020. It could be about managing the neighborhood app or taking care of the communal kitchen, the co-working area and booking the guest rooms. Soon after, a company spokeswoman reported that there was great demand for the four rental apartments.
Now, a good two years later, the conversion and expansion of Munich’s oldest farm in Forstenried is complete, and it has become an architectural gem. Only the unusual idea came to nothing. At the beginning of this year, rental apartments that were built in the historic part (alongside 17 condominiums in the new building) appeared quite regularly on Immoscout, for around 25 euros per square meter.
And that’s not the only shadow of dashed hopes hanging over this special real estate project – and one that was controversial in the neighborhood from the start. Because Höglmaier, who kept the old building privately, is also at odds with the community of apartment owners (WEG).
They feel misled because Höglmaier has leased the common areas to an external service provider. “For us, leasing and commercial use contradict the concept sold to us, according to which the almost 270-year-old, listed farmhouse becomes the common place for the farm residents,” says a protest note from the WEG to Höglmaier, which is available to the SZ. They are also bothered by the possibility of renting the guest apartment via Airbnb.
The Euroboden company stands above all for the construction of condominiums in the top price segment, combined with high architectural standards and the courage to undertake unusual projects. One of them was the conversion of a high-rise bunker on Ungererstrasse in Munich. Höglmaier used to live in the three-storey penthouse with 380 square meters and a panoramic terrace. Now he is offering it for sale for 12.9 million euros. He’s drawn to the country, he says.
Previously lived in the former bunker at Ungererstrasse 158: Stefan Höglmaier.
(Photo: Catherine Hess)
Carefully renovated: the bunker on Ungererstrasse.
(Photo: Catherine Hess)
The view from the roof terrace should be unique.
(Photo: Catherine Hess)
In the SZ interview, Höglmaier said he wanted to implement his architectural aspirations “at more affordable prices”. Euroboden therefore planned a wooden building with rental apartments for 9.99 euros per square meter on an urban property in the creative district, but recently withdrew from the project because construction costs and interest rates had risen too much.
In the creative district, Euroboden wanted to build rental apartments for 9.99 euros per square meter. But the project failed.
(Photo: Euroboden)
And what went wrong in the Derzbachhof? An intensive attempt was made to implement the concept of reduced rents, reports Höglmaier. “But it was incredibly complex”, because of issues such as taxes, liability and insurance, “we only ever had building blocks”. Then, says Höglmaier, someone offered to manage the common areas. He had come to an agreement with this “carer”: “It would have been nice if things had gone differently, but it was more practical that way.”
This gave him free access to the rental apartments. Höglmaier explains that they are so expensive with the “enormous construction costs”. And what about the people who had been hoping for an affordable rental apartment in the Derzbachhof for months, maybe years? A woman, he says, would move in at the regular rent. For the others, that’s how his somewhat tortuous answer is to be understood, it was unfortunately not supposed to be.
When asked, Höglmaier wrote that he could not understand WEG’s “irritation” about the lease. It was “always communicated” that third parties could also use the common rooms and “experience” the monument. But it is important to him “that the residents have advantages when booking”. So far there has been no “collision of use”, on the contrary: “The farm is particularly popular.”
Nevertheless, it could be that flaws stick to the Derzbachhof project. Does he fear for the credibility of Euroboden and its promises? Stefan Höglmaier leaves the question unanswered.