South of Vienna, viéno, a sustainable residential quarter with around 513 privately financed rental apartments, is being built on the former Alvorada site in Vösendorf.

BUWOG to build new residential construction projects again for the first time in two years
Over 1,000 new rental apartments and condominiums in Vienna, Vösendorf and Salzburg
New construction projects at an investment volume of around EUR 229 million

For the construction and real estate industry as a whole, the last few years have been characterised by a range of challenges, which have led to a severe decline in the volume of new construction in Austria. But while the commencement of construction of new projects was postponed, BUWOG made significant efforts to take advantage of the last two years to prepare a large number of them for construction. Building will now begin this year or next on three projects that will offer a total of over 1,000 new rental apartments and condominiums.

“Two years ago, as the largest private property developer, we were one of the first on the market that opted to postpone the launch of new projects until further notice due to the negative development of the underlying conditions at the time. We are very pleased that amidst these same conditions a slightly positive trend is emerging, and that has prompted us to launch an investment offensive for new construction and to pick up pace again with our construction activities, which will result in over 1,000 new apartments in an initial stage,” says Andreas Holler, managing director of BUWOG Group GmbH.

Holler points out that construction costs remain high, however, which is why the company aims to fulfil its responsibility as a property developer by optimising these costs in order to bring urgently needed housing onto the market at affordable rents for the middle of society. “In Salzburg, for example, we are planning to begin building the Südtiroler development in 2025 – a project with more than 400 rental apartments, approximately one third of which will be subsidised and two thirds privately financed. We will carry out part of the project with Gropyus and therefore construct it as a serial new build. This brings considerable construction- and development cost-related advantages, and the resulting timber housing project, which will be Austria’s largest to date, is also highly significant in terms of sustainability.”

The aforementioned investment offensive totals around EUR 229 million and will see construction begin on the Südtiroler (Salzburg), viéno (Vösendorf) and Drygalsky (1210 Vienna) projects with over 1,000 apartments by summer 2025. “BUWOG also has quite a number of exciting land reserves, so another 500 or so apartments are waiting in the wings,” says Holler. “I am proud of our entire team for their perseverance over the past two years and for what each and every one of them has meanwhile accomplished – this is finally starting to show now with the realisation of our new construction projects.”