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Despite the crown-related crisis in the city’s hotel industry and reluctance to consume, real estate and retail group Signa von Rene Benko remains faithful to its megaproject “KaDeWe Vienna”. However, the conversion of the current Leiner flagship on Vienna’s Mariahilfer Strasse into a department store to the “Kaufhaus des Westens” will take a year longer than originally planned. The opening is slated for fall 2024, Signa managing director Christoph Stadlhuber said Thursday.
According to the planning status in Fall 2019, the opening was scheduled for Fall 2023. Demolition of the old house will begin in early March 2021, leaving only the historic facade. “That alone will take eight months,” Stadlhuber announced at a retail symposium. Construction should be completed by the end of 2023 so that it can open in the fall of 2024.
No replacement location for Leiner branch
So it is also clear that the Leiner branch will be a thing of the past from March. In July, Kika / Leiner’s boss, Reinhold Gütebier, admitted that he had yet to find a replacement location. The Signa Group took over Kika and Leiner in June 2018 as part of an emergency sale of the ailing German-South African furniture company Steinhoff.
It is already certain that the Viennese counterpart of the famous Berlin KaDeWe will have a different name. “The house will definitely not be called KaDeWe in Vienna,” Stadlhuber said. The name should appear early next year.
The hotel operator has already been arranged, although Stadlhuber did not reveal the name. It should be a large international group. The contract was awarded amid the lockdown. “We believe the market will come back,” Stadlhuber said confidently. The hotel industry in the Viennese city is currently suffering greatly from the crown crisis, and it should continue like this for another two to three years.
Hotel and department store planned
In addition to an eight-story department store with 20,000 square meters of retail space that includes a public access park on the roof, the new complex will also include a hotel. Direct access to the adjacent museum quarter is still under negotiation. Stadlhuber sees the gastronomy area on the eighth floor overlooking Vienna’s city center as the future workhorse. “However, with the ulterior motive that people buy something when it comes down,” admitted Signa’s boss.
The manager of Signa could not resist a little advice in the direction of the former owners. “For many years, the view was reserved for a single tenant. It will soon be available to all,” Stadlhuber said. The former family that owns Kika / Leiner, Koch, lived in the attic above the flagship store for several decades and only left the luxury property last year.
Lay Mariahilfer Strasse like a splendid boulevard
Stadlhuber spoke of the “Mahü” as “the splendid boulevard of Europe”. The new department stores should especially appeal to the neighbors. The purchasing power in neighboring districts is very high. “We have to awaken the desire to buy, so that people do not take their money to the bank, but to us,” he gave the address to the manager of Signa.
The traffic concept also shows that Signa is primarily targeting neighbors as customers. The number of parking spaces for cars will be significantly reduced, with the creation of parking spaces for bicycles and cargo bikes. Most would come by public transport anyway.
KaDeWe in Berlin used to belong to Karstadt and is now owned by the Signa Group and Thai Central Group, as well as the Alsterhaus in Hamburg and the Oberpollinger department store in Munich. In addition to Vienna, a new department store will also be developed in Düsseldorf. (apa)
