In the Berlin House of Representatives, the Greens and the Left have appealed to the Senate to stop all planning for projects by the ailing real estate and department store group Signa in the city. In a parliamentary session on Thursday, both factions called for all of Signa’s urban development projects to be examined under the jurisdiction of the Senate.
“Steps aimed at creating building rights must be suspended,” said Green Party politician Julian Schwarze, naming two specific department store development projects. “We now need a moratorium on Hermannplatz and Ku’damm.”
The Signa group of companies also includes the Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof department store group. According to left-wing MP Niklas Schenker, department stores should be nationalized in order to preserve them. “We demand that the department stores be municipalized at the end of an orderly transition in coordination with the employees so that they can once again live up to their importance for the population’s security of supply.”
Similar to other companies in the real estate industry, Signa is struggling with increased interest rates and higher material costs. A week ago, the company announced in Vienna that founder René Benko was withdrawing from leadership of the ailing group. In Berlin, the company is pursuing a whole series of construction projects at department store locations and beyond.