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The Austrian real estate investor René Benko is in crisis. The entrepreneur has initiated large construction projects in city centers across Germany, some of which are now at a standstill. An overview.
The crisis in the group of real estate investor René Benko has come to a head. Business partners and financiers have obviously lost trust and are now demanding that a renovation expert take the helm in Benko’s Signa Holding – while work on several large construction sites is at a standstill. High construction costs, rising loan interest rates and home-grown problems have put the company under pressure.
Signa claims to be one of the “leading real estate developers in Europe”. The luxury real estate subsidiary Signa Prime Selection has started construction projects in central city center locations in several German cities. An overview of the most famous construction sites.
Elbe Tower Hamburg
With a height of 245 meters and 64 floors, the Elbtower in Hamburg’s Hafencity is actually intended to be the tallest conventional building in the Hanseatic city and the third highest in Germany – after the Commerzbank Tower and the Messeturm in Frankfurt am Main. The construction site is expected to cost 25 million euros per month, with a total construction cost of one billion euros.
Work on the shell of the skyscraper is on hold: Due to a lack of payments from the Signa Group, the Lupp construction group has stopped its construction work for the time being, as managing director Matthias Kaufmann confirmed. The shell is currently 100 meters high.
Shell construction of the Elbtower: Work was stopped at a height of 100 meters.
New Gänsemarkt passage in Hamburg
A showcase project for modern use of the city center was actually supposed to be built at the Gänsemarkt in downtown Hamburg. But the real estate company Signa Real Estate has put construction work on the new building planned there on hold for the time being. The previous building has already been demolished – there is a large gap between the blocks of houses.
The construction halt apparently has financial reasons: banks generally only give loans when the developer can prove that the project is profitable – i.e. there are sufficient commitments from future tenants. But according to media reports, there is still a problem with this. It is not known how many tenants are still missing before construction can continue.
There is a large vacant lot at Hamburg’s Gänsemarkt.
Carsch House in Düsseldorf
A similar picture to that in Hamburg can currently be seen on the construction site at the Carsch House in Düsseldorf. Work is also on hold there because the construction companies involved are apparently waiting for their money. According to media reports, Signa has not paid millions of dollars in bills. The Carsch House was actually supposed to be finished in spring 2025, with the groundbreaking ceremony taking place in March of this year.
The case is already causing a stir in politics. A construction hole in the middle of the city center would also be a catastrophe for retail, warned the Düsseldorf SPD. The cost of converting it into a new luxury department store is estimated at more than 50 million euros WDR reported.
The construction site of the planned new Carsch house: work is on hold.
New retail and office space in Stuttgart
Signa Holding’s newest construction site is currently located in Stuttgart. But apparently nothing is happening there either. According to the “Stuttgarter Zeitung”, the architectural firm has been asked to interrupt the planning work for the new building on the corner of Königstrasse and Schulstrasse. According to Signa Real Estate, this is due to changing requirements due to the pre-letting rate.
“The project is continuing,” Signa told the “Stuttgarter Zeitung”. The million-dollar project provides 2,300 square meters for retail and 5,000 square meters of office space.
There are concerns in Stuttgart that the project could develop into a permanent construction site. The left-wing alliance in the Stuttgart local council fears that the planning freeze could significantly delay the project. City councilor Johanna Tiarks spoke of the risk of a “years-long vacant lot”.
Thousands of square meters of offices are to be built on Stuttgart’s Königstrasse.
“Mynd” high-rise on Berlin’s Alexanderplatz
At Berlin’s Alexanderplatz, the Galeria department store is to be supplemented by a 134 meter high high-rise tower. In view of the Signa Group’s crisis, the Commerzbank fund company, which was also involved in the project, has now drawn conclusions: Shortly before construction work began, the Commerz Real fund company sent notice of termination to the project developer Signa Real Estate, reports the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”. This means Signa is losing an important contract.
However, this does not affect the construction work. The construction will “continue as planned,” Commerz Real told the “FAZ”. The construction company Züblin has been commissioned to carry out the shell construction work on the construction project called “Mynd”.
It is currently unclear what will happen with other projects. Just this summer, the Danish architectural firm Henning Larsen won the contract for planned new high-rise buildings on Kurfürstendamm in the Charlottenburg district. The new ensemble will be 134 meters high. According to the architecture firm, it is currently being planned.
The Signa Group’s high-rise project on Alexanderplatz: Commerz Real now wants to build here alone.
New city quarter in Munich city center
Signa is also involved in extensive redesigns of the city center in Munich. The project is being marketed under the name “Corbinian” and is intended to be a new urban district between the main train station and Stachus. The plans for the new development between the main station and Stachus are – like the Elbtower in Hamburg – by the architect David Chipperfield.
A first rental agreement for 15,000 square meters of office space was concluded a year ago. Until the end, the project seemed to be going as planned, but according to the “Abendzeitung”, Benko is said to have been “open to purchase offers” for this and other Munich buildings and projects.
A draft of the planned “Corbinian” district in Munich: 40,000 square meters of office space and 10,000 square meters of retail are planned.
Commercial building on Opernplatz in Frankfurt
It was already announced in August that, contrary to what Signa originally intended, no new high-rise building would be built on Frankfurt’s Opernplatz. The city of Frankfurt rejected plans for a 100 meter high building.
An eight-story commercial building is to be built instead on the site of a former office building from the 1950s, which Signa had already demolished in spring 2021. However, construction has not yet started – also because there was no building permit until recently.