As of: March 26, 2024, 1:51 p.m
By: Nikolas Pelke
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The old Kaufhof in downtown Nuremberg has been empty for almost a year.
Monument protection is particularly to blame for this, say real estate experts like Wolfgang P. Küspert.
© Nikolas Pelke
The old Kaufhof in downtown Nuremberg has been empty for almost a year.
Real estate experts like Wolfgang P. Küspert fear permanent vacancies and speak of serious errors.
Nuremberg - The mornings come, the evenings go: The huge shop windows in the former “Kaufhof” in downtown Nuremberg have been empty around the clock for almost 365 days.
While visitors stroll through Nuremberg's pedestrian zone, the abandoned department store on Königstrasse is hardly given a glance.
Meanwhile, almost the entire city is wondering what will become of the massive box from the post-war period in the future?
Especially after Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) recommended that his hometown think about building a congress center in the city and seriously consider demolishing the listed building.
Has monument protection stopped the sale?
Real estate experts like Wolfgang P. Küspert from the commercial and investment real estate consulting company of the same name are of the opinion that serious mistakes have already been made around the sensitive Kaufhof property.
First and foremost, the State Office for Monument Protection would not have done either the city or the building a favor by officially granting it monument protection status.
Küspert estimates the additional costs that potential buyers would incur as a result of the listed building status at around ten million euros.
With the surprising decision, the state authority put the ongoing sales talks on hold last autumn, says Küspert and is surprised at the timing shortly before the sales talks were concluded.
“Why didn't the authorities come up with the idea in the last few decades of wanting to preserve the department store from 1950 as a legacy of the economic miracle for posterity?” asks Küspert and reports that this also scared away the few interested parties who did not want to demolish the property but instead wanted to convert it into an urban market hall, for example.
Building officer defends monument authority
According to Nuremberg's building officer, Daniel F. Ulrich, the owners had "known for some time" the previously considered monument status.
According to Ulrich, this “news” was not kept secret from potential buyers either.
In general, the building officer does not think that monument status fundamentally stands in the way of future usage ideas.
In fact, the official protective stamp could even improve sales chances, Ulrich had hoped after the decision was announced.
Finally, investors could benefit from special tax depreciation for listed properties.
Furthermore, according to Ulrich, it is not the aging building with its 65-meter-long shop window façade that is responsible for the current vacancy, but rather the bankrupt company.
If you come to Nuremberg to shop, you also have to pass the 65 meter long empty Kaufhof store on Königstrasse.
© Nikolas Pelke
Today, Küspert is absolutely certain that due to the declaration of an individual monument - the entire old town of Nuremberg is under ensemble protection anyway - the prospective buyers' calculations suddenly collapsed.
At the moment of the decision, the insolvent Signa Group, as the owner of the department store, could not only have wasted around ten million euros.
The price negotiations as part of the planned sale were also thrown out the window.
To date the building has not been sold.
“The monument protection department deserves a lot of credit for the failed sale.
I can say that for sure.”
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Real estate expert praises Söder for demolition proposal
This stalemate obviously gave Prime Minister Markus Söder the idea of thinking out loud about demolition together with Mayor Marcus König (both CSU).
“I find this initiative really respectable if a politician dares to do it,” says Küspert and explains why, despite this “strong” proposal – which Söder immediately had to pay for with criticism from many quarters – prospective buyers are still not lining up at the moment.
After the public sector stepped up and practically appeared as a prospective buyer with the proposal for a congress center, every private investor would have shelved the Kaufhof.
“Now this vision has to be played out first,” fears Küspert and explains that before a possible demolition, even the Free State must first provide legal proof that the existing Kaufhof building cannot be saved economically.
Who wants to buy a listed Kaufhof?
Real estate expert Wolfgang P. Küspert from Nuremberg fears no one and warns of permanent vacancies in the next few years.
© Nikolas Pelke
Does the city want to buy the Kaufhof in Nuremberg?
“This is of course not a great situation for the owner,” says Küspert, fearing that the Kaufhof could suffer the same fate as the spring.
The former mail order company on Fürther Straße also stood empty for over ten years until a now insolvent investor took over the building, which was also a listed building, with the support of the city as a solvent anchor tenant.
“Actually, the Kaufhof is now completely dead,” says Küspert and advises the city and trade fair to acquire the property themselves, given the controversial debate surrounding the future of the Kaufhof between demolition advocates and monument preservationists.
(By the way: Our Nuremberg newsletter regularly informs you about all important stories from Middle Franconia and the Franconian metropolis. Register here.)
According to the Nuremberg Economic Council, “all options” are on the table
“However, it won’t be entirely cheap,” suspects Küspert.
Meanwhile, Nuremberg's economics officer Andrea Heilmaier (CSU) explains when asked about the city's possible interest in buying: "We are examining all options in this context, but cannot yet provide any final results."
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