Signa always emphasized – there have recently been several (major) bankruptcies within the company network – that construction work continued, while prestige projects in Germany were stopped. The ORF reported on Monday evening that the Lamarr construction site was practically at a standstill.
In “Vienna Today” a local inspection was shown in the “MaHü”, which illustrated that only some clean-up and security work was underway, but not any construction work. Finally, Signa always emphasized that everything during construction was going according to plan. However, these would practically stand still, the ORF reported, also pointing out that there was no current statement from Signa on this topic when asked on Tuesday. In the short term, there was no information available following APA’s request.
According to the information, the facade should actually be built at the moment. Nothing of this might be seen on the TV pictures. “We follow what’s going on here and what’s not happening here. Nothing’s been happening there for a while,” said a neighbor. “It’s just tools being put together,” said another resident, “incomplete, empty, cold, lonely, ugly.” Another spoke of “safety work” that might be observed in contrast to construction work.
According to original information, the planned high-end department store, including a restaurant on the roof and a hotel, is scheduled to open in 2025. So far only the reinforced concrete frame is standing. Another resident, who is also an architect and was shown by ORF, ruled out that this schedule might still be maintained even if work was carried out at full capacity. That is “utopian”.
Signa’s partner in the project is the Thai Central Group. In Switzerland, according to the plan, this partner will take over Signa’s shares in the Globus department store chain there. It remains to be seen whether a similar approach will take place at the Lamarr department store in Austria.
For the time being, it is also unclear what will happen to the planned Lamarr Museum in the building, which will be named following the Hollywood diva and inventor Hedy Lamarr from Vienna – and will also honor her. A managing director of René Benko’s Signa Holding, which is responsible for the project and is currently in bankruptcy proceedings, personally secured the rights to the name from Lamarr’s children on the US West Coast.
According to the announcement regarding two years ago, Lamarr would be honored in various places throughout the building, with a museum café as the focal point. Overall, the “Lamarr” will welcome guests on eight floors as Vienna’s “KaDeWe” with 20,000 square meters, with the overall project also including a hotel from the Hyatt Group under the Thompson Vienna brand.
“All of our department stores are icons of their cities and are therefore deeply anchored in the respective city,” said André Maeder, head of the KaDeWe Group, regarding the choice of name at their presentation in October 2022. “The new store is primarily for the Viennese, which is why there must be a connection to the Austrian metropolis.”
To date, the KaDeWe Group includes the Berlin luxury department store of the same name, the Alsterhaus in Hamburg and the Oberpollinger in Munich. In addition to the Lamarr in Vienna, the Carsch Haus in Düsseldorf should also join this in 2024. KaDeWe formerly belonged to Karstadt and is now owned by the Signa Group and the Thai Central Group.
