Overview
- VKB formally presented the revised concept in late August 2026, announcing the removal of three planned storeys and a reduction of new-build area from about 26,270 to 15,000 square metres.
- The project will keep the existing structure and convert it into mixed use with retail and gastronomy at street level, workspace for offices, crafts, light industry and labs on middle floors, social-service rooms in a new courtyard building, and roughly 60 apartments on a wooden rooftop addition.
- VKB says the shrinkage is driven by a sharp drop in demand for office space in Berlin and the disruption caused by the bankruptcy of former partner Signa, which forced a multi-year planning pause.
- Bezirk Mitte has moved to loosen the Bebauungsplan so future uses can be changed more easily, and local residents who responded to a Kiezradar survey strongly prefer a neighbourhood meeting place and fear that long vacancy could lead to drug-related deterioration.
- Work remains tentative: VKB projects the earliest possible construction start in early 2028 and completion in 2032, and the smaller, more flexible scheme reflects planners adapting to a citywide office glut of roughly two million square metres of empty space.