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Hamburg's Finance Senator Andreas Dressel in Potsdam.
© Michael Bahlo/dpa
So-called share deals are controversial and are seen as a means to an end for land speculators.
The city intervenes in a share deal with a property in Hamburg-Harburg.
Hamburg - For the first time, the city of Hamburg has exercised its right of first refusal when selling property as part of a so-called share deal.
With the acquisition of the approximately 57,000 square meter Freudenberg site at Harburg train station, the city has entered new legal territory, Finance Senator Andreas Dressel and Urban Development Senator Karen Pein (both SPD) announced on Thursday.
The state real estate management and real estate company, which is part of the tax authority, exercised the right of first refusal at the end of 2022.
Now those involved have agreed on how to handle the purchase, so that a legal dispute could be avoided.
In share deals, it is not the real estate itself that is sold, but shares in a corporation that holds the property.
The practice is controversial because property transfer tax can be avoided in this way.
In addition, share deals lead to land speculation, say critics.
“As a last resort, the right of first refusal is an indispensable instrument of our land and urban development policy,” said Dressel.
“The case proves that our persistence is paying off and that even a share deal does not undermine our right of first refusal.
The case therefore sends a clear signal to the real estate market that the city and its intervention must be reckoned with.”
Pein called the Freudenberger area a key piece of land with great urban significance for Harburg.
With the acquisition, Hamburg's urban development goals could be better implemented in the development of the eastern Harburg inland port - regardless of third-party interests.
“Exercising the right of first refusal in a share deal for the first time underlines that we are exhausting all options to secure properties that are essential for the overall development of Hamburg,” she said.
According to the Harburg district office manager Sophie Fredenhagen, the area is suitable “for developing an urban district with, among other things, businesses, services and leisure uses, which on the one hand is linked to the Binnenhafen research and innovation district and on the other hand benefits from the good accessibility and location on the outskirts of the city center”.
dpa