As of: February 9, 2024, 5:30 a.m
By: Laura Forster
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The bowling alley on the left was just one of the points that the tenant of the community center restaurant, Markus Gastberger, and the city did not agree on.
© Gerald Förtsch
The Garching city café was apparently not under a good star.
After a dispute between the city and the tenant, an eviction lawsuit is now underway.
Garching
– Garching residents have been asking themselves for weeks: What’s going on with the catering in the community center?
The city café has been closed since the end of last year, and the cultural department offers drinks and snacks instead of catering at events.
What happened and what happens next?
The Munich Merkur asked the tenant and the town hall.
A lot has happened in recent years.
Until 2012, the gastronomy in the Garching community center was called “bürgerstuben”, then the “Rondell”, which was run by Boris Pachov and Thomas Winkler.
Between 2018 and 2021, major renovation work costing millions was planned - after that, things should finally start to look up.
In the future, the city council envisioned catering in the form of a coffee house where small meals would also be served.
In 2021, the Stadtcafé, a Viennese coffee house, opened with a wine bar, run by the landlord of the Garchinger Augustiner, who previously did the catering for the community center.
“I presented a concept that the city liked,” says Markus Gastberger, who also runs the Schlosswirtschaft in Oberschleißheim.
Problems after opening
Shortly after the opening in the summer, however, the problems began.
Not everything went smoothly during the renovation and the work was delayed.
“There were some construction defects,” says Gastberger.
“We have to tackle this ourselves,” said Mayor Dietmar Gruchmann (SPD).
The city accommodated the landlord with a rent reduction.
But that, according to Gastberger, was where the “differences” between him and the town hall began.
Other points of contention included fire protection, which according to the administration was not adhered to, or the bowling alley, which was not used by the tenant.
“It’s from the 70s and can’t be played.
It has dozens of defects,” explains the restaurateur.
At some point the city stopped commissioning Gastberger to cater events at the community center.
“Without catering, black numbers are impossible,” says the innkeeper.
According to Gruchmann, the city has received repeated complaints.
“The audience was not satisfied with the hospitality.” The town hall responded to this and looked after the visitors themselves with drinks and small snacks.
Termination in mid-2023
Gastberger then received termination notice in mid-2023.
“We said it doesn’t make sense.
It didn’t work out,” says Mayor Gruchmann, who cites months of payment delays as the reason for the termination.
“If you go by the contract, the rent isn't always received on time.
It was a few days later, but I communicated this with the town hall.
After all, we had Corona, so everything wasn’t so easy,” says Gastberger, emphasizing that he had always paid all the bills up until then.
According to Gruchmann, after the termination, the landlord would have had to vacate the community center restaurant immediately, but this did not happen.
The city café has been closed since November, but Gastberger hasn't moved out yet.
An eviction notice followed.
“My lawyer and I tried several times to contact the town hall to talk about everything again.
But there was no answer,” says the tenant.
According to the mayor, it was exactly the other way around.
300,000 euros investment
According to their own statement, both parties are interested in reaching an agreement, but nothing has really progressed.
Until now: An inventory is taking place with the restaurateur and the city these days, because Gastberger has now moved the furniture out of the rooms.
“I invested 300,000 euros in the belief that I would make the hospitality last longer.
I'm stuck with a lot of it.
“But now I have capitulated and accepted it,” says Gastberger, crestfallen.
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If no solution is found at the meeting, the court will hold a mediation hearing in March.
“Of course we hope that this will be clarified beforehand,” says Gruchmann.
Still keeping an eye on restaurant operations
But what should happen next with the catering industry in the community center?
“We would like to have a restaurant business again,” explains the mayor.
In an interview with Stadtspiegel, a local magazine, he said that he suggested to the city council that the municipality could take over the community center catering itself.
According to Gruchmann, the city has brought in a specialist consultant.
Staff can be hired by the municipality, lunch should be offered and facilities such as daycare centers should be self-sufficient.
For Gastberger this has an aftertaste.
“It seems as if the city was just looking for a reason to get rid of me in order to implement its own plans.” However, Gruchmann emphasizes that hospitality from a restaurateur is possible again – if everything works out.
“I’m open to whether the city does it or someone else does it.
We need a concept that works.”