You can hardly walk through downtown Munich without stumbling across a house belonging to the Austrian department store mogul.
Now another is added.
The traditional department store Kaut-Bullinger in Rosenstrasse is sold.
The buyer is the company of Karstadt Kaufhof boss René Benko.
Unions are concerned about the long term future of the house.
Munich - If it were a game of Monopoly,
René Benko
(43) would have a pretty good chance of winning.
Because the Austrian
billionaire
, whose corporate empire includes the
department store chain Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof
, is buying up
downtown Munich
bit by bit
.
The latest acquisition: the house of the traditional Munich company
Kaut-Bullinger
at Rosenstrasse 8!
This was announced by
Signa Holding
yesterday.
René Benko owns properties from the main train station to the Viktualienmarkt
This means that the
Benko mile
in
downtown
Munich * is
growing
again.
The Austrian investor now owns several pieces in and around the pedestrian zone.
In 2017,
for example
,
Benko
and his
Signa Holding
acquired
the
Karstadt at the main train station
.
At the end of 2013,
Signa
had already bought
the
Old Academy
in the pedestrian zone
from the Free State
for 240 million euros as part of a 65-year leasehold grant.
The
Innsbruck-born
premium department store Oberpollinger also
belongs to him - and
he also has a stake
in the
Italian grocer
Eataly in the Schrannenhalle
.
René Benko has a hand in this:
1. René Benko has owned the Karstadt building at the main train station since 2017.
2. The Galeria branch at Stachus was last discussed.
It should be closed - now the company has been saved for the time being, until 2022. By the way, Benko is not the owner of the space here, but the tenant.
3. The property in which Karstadt Sport is currently located belongs to Benkos Signa.
4. Likewise the Oberpollinger next door.
5. In 2013 Benko bought the Old Academy from the Free State for 240 million euros - with building rights granted for 65 years.
6. Benko also runs the Kaufhof on Marienplatz - it is not affected by the store closings.
7. The latest achievement: the Kaut-Bullinger-Haus on Rosenstrasse.
Benko
is super rich,
Forbes
recently estimated his fortune at $ 4.9 billion.
Most recently, however, it has been in the headlines because there are problems at
Galeria Kaufhof Karstadt
.
The chain wants to close rows of houses, and the flagship store on
Stachus
should actually close.
It is only thanks to a rescue plan with considerable rent discounts that operations can continue here - the new agreement runs until 2022.
Munich start-up has declared war on the traffic jam.
The traditional department store KaDeWe in Berlin also belongs to René Benko
Benko
, who started a two-person company in 1999, completed
his first major construction project in
2004 with
Kaufhaus Tyrol
in his hometown of
Innsbruck
.
Since then, his
signature
has been growing
inexorably - not only
Munich's inner city
bears his signature more and more.
The
KaDeWe
in
Berlin
and the
Alsterhaus
in
Hamburg
are also part of his empire.
So now the building at
Rosenstrasse 8 as well
.
How much money
Benkos Signa
paid for it, is secret.
The rental space covers a total of 4200 square meters, 3300 of which are used for retail.
Kaut-Bullinger
: The house is known in
Munich
and beyond for its huge range of stationery and office supplies.
Even before the purchase,
Galeria Kaufhof had Karstadt
Rented rooms here on the third and fourth floors.
According to
Signa
,
Kaut-Bullinger will
continue to use the retail space.
The
traditional company also
confirms this on request.
In
trade union
circles, however, there is concern about the long-term future of employees.
It is said that “the situation will be closely monitored”.
+
The next object of desire for René Benko: the Kaut-Bullinger-Haus on Rosenstrasse
© Markus Götzfried
Kaut-Bullinger
has been around since 1794. In the meantime, the company also belonged to the “Munich's First Houses” merger, but left the company at the end of 2017.
Wolfgang Fischer, Director of the Association of
downtown dealers City Partner
appeared cautiously optimistic after the sale announcement.
He told
tz
: "We hope that the
traditional
house can continue to run despite the house sale."
* Tz.de is part of the Ippen-Digital network.
List of rubric lists: © Signa Holding GmbH / picture alliance