At the weekend, things get really busy in the local clubs on the RAW grounds in Friedrichshain. Tourists like to stop by. And spring will soon come, when the popular Sunday flea market will continue on the area. Everything seems to be going as usual on the extensive, former industrial site with its somewhat worn-out charm and the graffiti-covered walls, some of which are listed buildings.
But behind the scenes, things are brewing – and they are brewing big time. Actually, the coziness on the RAW site should have been over long ago and a huge construction site should have opened up there.
In return, certain socio-cultural facilities such as studios, a local children’s circus, bars and the skate hall should be protected for at least 30 years
The Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg district had already reached agreement with the owner of the majority of the site seven years ago an agreement met. Accordingly, the Göttingen-based real estate company Kurth would be allowed to redesign and develop the area on a large scale, but would have to agree to grant certain actors a kind of right to stay on the site.
The deal stipulates: Kurth Immobilien is allowed to build offices and even a high-rise building with a very decent construction volume totaling around 150,000 square meters of floor space. In return, certain socio-cultural facilities such as studios, a local children’s circus, bars and the skate hall should be protected for at least 30 years. Guaranteed by the promise that rents will, as before, be kept well below the market average.
An unusual agreement
Such an unusual agreement, which both the owner Lauritz Kurth and Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg’s building councilor Florian Schmidt (Greens) have repeatedly touted as a major and unique achievement in Europe, requires careful planning. And so the owner is still waiting for the deal to be contractually finalized instead of being allowed to build long ago. In recent years he has complained that everything was moving too slowly. Kurth expressed increasing frustration over what he saw as a lack of progress in the negotiations.
The trust between Kurth and the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg district appears to be completely broken
And now the whole agreement is in jeopardy. Maybe they don’t even exist anymore. The trust between Kurth and the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg district appears to be completely broken. This quickly becomes clear when you look into the case. And the operators of the socio-cultural facilities on the site, who have been wanting to know what will happen next for years, have now switched from fear to panic mode due to current developments. The peace and quiet on the RAW grounds is definitely over for them.
In mid-January they received a letter, which was available to taz, in which they were subsequently informed that the tenancy would expire at the end of 2025. The short-term rental contracts, which have been repeatedly extended in recent years, have now come to an end. The short justification given is the lack of progress in the development process and in the negotiations about the future of socio-culture, for which the district is held responsible. The letter goes on to say that users will be tolerated until further notice despite the expired rental agreement and that eviction proceedings will not be carried out for the time being.
There is space for many initiatives and creative people on the RAW site
Photo:
Chromorange/imago
How could such an escalation occur? And above all: What happens now in this completely messed up situation?
Everything is too slow
If you get in touch with him Owner Lauritz Kurth up, he seems quite in need of talking. He answers questions extensively in writing and is also willing to have a telephone conversation. He always remains polite and careful in his choice of words, but clearly shows his frustration that, in his opinion, everything has been progressing too slowly for a long time.
What was announced is not being implemented by the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg district, he says, “Appointments are canceled at short notice, agreed documents are not sent. In principle, the whole thing falls apart and gets lost in the mills of the district administration.”
When spring comes, the popular RAW flea market comes back
Photo:
Sabine Gudath/imago
Regarding Florian Schmidt’s role in the whole process, Lauritz Kurth says: “Even if he positions himself publicly like this and says he wants it and stands behind it, there is no evidence of this in the process or especially in the results after more than 10 years.”
Kurth broke off the negotiation process with the district on his own initiative in June last year. Somehow things continued for a while and the conversation continued – also thanks to the Berlin Senate, which acted as a kind of mediator between the two parties for a while.
Kurth then expresses himself largely favorably about the role of the Senate and suggests that he would prefer to continue negotiations exclusively with it. But that would mean disempowering the district and bring with it a lot of excitement, which the already ailing Berlin mayor Kai Wegner probably doesn’t need right now.
Owner for 10 years
Kurth’s written and oral statements can be summarized as follows: We have been the owner of the RAW site for 10 years – not as an investor, but as a property owner who wants to develop and not sell on like a speculator, as he emphasizes. And for almost as long, people have been trying to come up with a legally secure development plan. But things are just moving too slowly and now we’re just fed up with faxes.
Kurth seems pretty decisive. And the non-renewed rental agreements are now putting massive pressure on the district, which desperately wants to continue to preserve the socio-culture. When asked, its press office told the taz: “The district office is 100 percent behind the process and is ready to do everything possible to ensure its success.” The preservation of socio-culture in its current form is still “the declared goal of the decision to establish the development plan process, which has been confirmed several times by the BVV.”
The question that now arises, also among the users of the RAW site with whom we spoke: How serious is Kurth really? Is he just playing high? Is he already pursuing other plans?
If the deal were to finally fall through, many facilities would no longer be able to afford the enormously rising rents, which are currently still very low, and would disappear. Although Kurth would have higher income overall thanks to financially stronger tenants, it would almost certainly have to give up a large part of its development dreams elsewhere on the site due to the deal falling through. Can he want that?
Now also building apartments?
In addition to all of this, Kurth has now partially revised his own plans for developing the site. For example, the concept developed 7 years ago expressly excludes the construction of apartments. Which also corresponds to the decision of a district council meeting (BVV) in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg. Since then, however, the world has changed, Kurth now argues. The number of planned offices is no longer up to date, which is why he now wants to build apartments, just over 300, he says. They will be built in the area where the annual Christmas market takes place.
The press office of the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg district office says that, just like the BVV, it is generally open to Kurth’s new wishes. The creation of noise reports was therefore initiated to check whether the sometimes noisy operation of the socio-cultural facilities could be compatible with a directly adjacent residential area.
Almost reassuring in the direction of Kurth, the district office announced: “We are working intensively on various topics. Solutions are emerging, but some topics are still challenging and require very close and benevolent cooperation between the partners.”
Wrestling for concessions
Joest Schmidt, the managing director of the Skatehalle Berlinmeanwhile, is despairing as an observer and at the same time a passive participant in this struggle for concessions and agreements. He acknowledges that the district office has to examine everything carefully and legally and needs time to do so. But Kurth also understands that everything always goes too slowly for him. “But we are in between,” says Schmidt.
They had had to invest in their partly dilapidated hall for a long time, but they were unable to get loans because of the short-term rental agreements. And now the existence is threatened – that of the entire socio-culture on the site. “If it disappears from Friedrichshain, there will be little left of what makes Friedrichshain so valuable or why many people even moved there,” says Joest Schmidt.
And now the existence of the skate hall is threatened – and that of the entire socio-culture on the site
Kurth has now announced that clear, positive results should be achieved by the end of March. The fact that he is putting so much pressure now could also be because he wants to see significant progress before the next election for the Berlin House of Representatives in September.
For example, Kurth wants to have findings on noise protection available by the end of March. By then it should also be clarified who will be the official contact person for socio-cultural issues in the planned 30-year grandfathering deal – the state’s own property manager BIM is currently planned.
Otherwise – this threat is now very clear – the negotiations are really and finally dead. In that case, many tenants on the RAW property fear that it won’t be long before the eviction notice is in their mailbox.