Crisis in the Benko empire
Tschentscher is putting pressure on Elbtower
November 3rd, 2023, 3:26 p.m
Listen to article
This audio version was artificially generated. More info | Send feedback
At 245 meters high, Hamburg’s Elbtower is set to become the third tallest skyscraper in Germany. But the builders are still a long way from that. How and when the Signa Real Estate project of the entrepreneur Benko will continue is still unclear. The city of Hamburg is tough.
Following the interruption in construction on Hamburg’s billion-dollar Elbtower building, political pressure is growing on the project developer Signa. “The Elbtower is – unlike the Elbphilharmonie – a project at the risk of private investors, who would suffer major economic damage if the project were canceled in this phase,” said First Mayor Peter Tschentscher to “Spiegel”. “The city will not assume any financial burden in this context, but will ensure compliance with the contractual regulations.” He expressed the expectation “that investors will find a solution for resuming construction work in their own interest.”
The Commerzbank asset manager Commerz Real, which entered the project last summer with a 25 percent stake for the open real estate fund “Hausinvest”, expects the construction work to continue quickly. A Commerz Real spokesman said Commerz Real is “in discussions with both the construction company Lupp, which was entrusted with the shell construction, and with Signa “in order to quickly find a solution.” “We are still absolutely convinced of the Elbtower and assume that construction work can be resumed soon.”
The project developer Signa Real Estate itself, which belongs to the Signa holding company of the Austrian billionaire René Benko, has not yet responded to inquiries about the reasons for the interruption of construction and further progress on the Elbtower. The spokesman for Commerz Real said that his company was informed directly by the Lupp company before it interrupted the work. The high-rise on the eastern edge of Hamburg’s Hafencity, one of the largest European urban development projects, is expected to be the third tallest high-rise in Germany with 65 floors and 245 meters high after the Commerzbank Tower and the Messeturm in Frankfurt am Main. According to previous information from Signa Real Estate, the skyscraper is expected to cost 950 million euros.
Kühne Holding is staying out of it
The logistics billionaire Klaus-Michael Kühne, who was speculated in media reports as a possible financier for the Elbtower, is, in his own words, not available as a financier. “Kühne Holding is far from being involved in Elbtower and is only marginally involved in one or two discussions about partial or complete solutions regarding Signa Prime,” Kühne told the “Hamburger Abendblatt” in response to its request. “At the moment there are no solutions in sight involving Kühne Holding.”
Tschentscher recalled the property purchase agreement that the city of Hamburg had concluded with Signa. “This includes detailed milestones for the completion of the building, which range from corresponding contractual penalties in the double-digit million range to the retransfer of the property with the parts of the building that have already been built,” said the mayor. “The contracts are well negotiated and comprehensively protect the city’s interests.”