Construction company is putting pressure on the city of Hamburg regarding the Elbtower

Lupp managing director Thilo Moser made it clear that withdrawing the technology would make the possible restart significantly more difficult. “If we take all of this with us, then this building can no longer be built,” he said. The message to Hamburg is: "City of Hamburg, move. Otherwise we'll be out of here."

This brings a new twist to the conflict that has been simmering for months. The focus is no longer just on financing models, fundamental political questions and contractual clauses, but rather on the practical question of whether the infrastructure required for high-rise construction remains on the construction site. A later reconstruction or replacement of the special technology is likely to make a restart more expensive and also delay it.

The Elbtower has been standing still at a height of around 100 meters since the collapse of the Signa Group of the Austrian real estate investor René Benko in October 2023. The high-rise, designed by David Chipperfield, was originally supposed to reach 245 meters. The now revised plan calls for a height of around 199 meters.

A consortium led by Hamburg real estate entrepreneur Dieter Becken wants to acquire and complete the tower from the insolvency administrator. In addition to Becken and Lupp, those involved include Signal Iduna, a company owned by the late entrepreneur Klaus-Michael Kühne, and Dirk Roßmann. However, the prerequisite for a new start is a comprehensive contract conclusion in which the city is involved alongside the consortium and the insolvency administrator.

Hamburg's Senate sets conditions

Hamburg had offered to purchase almost half of the finished building for a flat-rate fixed price of a maximum of 595 million euros. The planned natural history museum was to be housed on around 46,000 square meters on the lower twelve floors. In principle, the city only wants to pay when the agreed areas have been completed and handed over.

However, it is precisely this central building block that has faltered politically. The Hamburg project developer Büll & Liedtke has offered to house the museum in an existing property at Besenbinderhof for 495 million euros. The offer is therefore 100 million euros below the maximum price stated for the Elbtower. At the same time, the Greens have fundamentally distanced themselves from the museum variants currently being discussed. Your parliamentary group leader Michael Gwosdz argues that Hamburg needs to set other priorities given its tight budget.

Finance Senator Andreas Dressel had announced a decision on the museum location for this year. Dressel also emphasized that construction costs and interest rates had changed since the negotiations began. The question is therefore not only whether Hamburg will stick to its price cap, but also whether the private consortium can finance the remaining tower under the now worsened economic conditions.

The opposition, meanwhile, accuses the Senate of a lack of transparency. At the beginning of November, CDU MP Anna von Treuenfels-Frowein criticized the fact that there was still no completed economic viability analysis. The exact distribution of space, the structural risks and a possible completion date are also open.