Ground-breaking ceremony for the Martinshöfe neighbourhood. From right to left: Andreas Holler (Managing Director BUWOG), Alexander Geiger (Building Mayor), Udo Sauter (Managing Director Construction Management BUWOG), Clemens Moll (Lord Mayor), Daniel Riedl (Board Member Vonovia), Felix Kenner (ZECH Hochbau AG, Branch Manager Stuttgart)

There is progress with the Martinshöfe development in Weingarten: the groundbreaking ceremony recently took place at the construction site with Mayor Clemens Moll and property developer BUWOG. Construction will commence on 4 August.

One of the most important new construction projects in Weingarten has the green light: with a symbolic groundbreaking ceremony, Mayor Clemens Moll and the BUWOG project team launched works on the new Martinshöfe development. Over the next few years, BUWOG will be constructing the new urban development quarter in various construction phases on the approximately 3.7-hectare site in the centre of Weingarten (Ravensburg district). It will encompass approximately 500 rental apartments and condominiums, commercial and retail space, and a neighbourhood square with an adjacent community centre.

As Weingarten’s Mayor Clemens Moll emphasised at the groundbreaking: “Martinshöfe is a key project for the further development of our city centre. Following intensive discussions and adaptations to the urban development contract, I am delighted construction can now begin. The fact that we have abided by our common goal despite complicated conditions shows that urban development requires patience and strong partnerships.”

Daniel Riedl, member of the board of management of Vonovia SE responsible, among other things, for BUWOG development in Germany: “We have always said that BUWOG is committed to the Weingarten location – and BUWOG keeps its word. In recent months, it has been important to ensure that the economic efficiency to be achieved does not come at the expense of the development’s architectural, sustainable or functional qualities. The symbolic groundbreaking ceremony marks the commencement of the soon visible construction work. BUWOG’s decades of experience in the realisation of more sizeable and extremely large developments will be an advantage for this Weingarten development project, which is challenging in terms of infrastructure as well as urban planning. It is understandable that the start of construction in Weingarten is eagerly anticipated, but it is important to note that quality takes precedence over speed.”

After demolishing the old industrial buildings, BUWOG removed the deep foundations. Recently, visible construction work was paused and internal project plans were revised and optimised, as a variety of factors in the construction of such large developments had changed with respect to older plans. This included an overall increase in planning and construction costs. Within the project, circumstances had also changed due to the fact that, contrary to the original plan, a university will not be using the ground floor area on the town square. In light of this, and with the aim of starting construction, BUWOG coordinated with the city of Weingarten at frequent intervals in order to advance joint solutions to specific and related issues, which will also improve the economic efficiency of the development, optimise infrastructural and construction logistics and give even better consideration to the future uses of the development.

The concept for development management, a development meeting area and the associated financing requirements for implementation, commissioning and operation has now been finalised.
The development meeting area can be relocated to the ground floor of construction phase C (assisted living), which is to be reflected in the amendment to the urban development contract.
The expansion of the “senior living” concept in component C is possible; further details are still being coordinated with the city.
The mobility concept will be adjusted in consultation with the city of Weingarten; this will be announced by the city.

The solutions to these issues have now been finalised to such an extent that BUWOG can begin construction on the first phases. In preparation for the soon visible construction work, BUWOG has meanwhile signed a contract with its pre-construction partner ZECH, which will also be responsible for the first construction phase (A+B). Planning is underway for the subsequent construction phases F+G, and the construction preparation phase with ZECH is running in parallel with the first construction phase. An application for a building permit has already been submitted for this. The details of the logistics concept for construction phases A+B and F+G have already been finalised. The architecture is being planned by the Stuttgart-based A+R Architekten.