Hamburg is a city that constantly attracts and inspires international visitors with new projects and buildings, such as the impressive Westfield shopping center on Überseeboulevard. There are always new plans in the pipeline to make the city even more attractive. These include the multi-million euro “Elbtower” megaproject, which has been in the pipeline for years. Construction was halted for the first time in October 2023, and the building project has long been criticized for exceeding the alarm values. However, a new report now shows that the problems are even more serious than previously assumed, as the structure is subsiding and affecting Deutsche Bahn’s facilities.
The construction of the “Elbtower”, which at 245 meters was to be Hamburg’s new landmark and tallest building – and the third tallest in Germany – is simply not coming to an end. A four to five-storey base building was planned, from which six to seven floors with terraces were to develop. These were to merge into a slender, curved tower with around 64 floors. The gross floor area of 160,000 square meters was primarily intended for offices (77,000 m² on 48 floors). The plans also included a Nobu hotel, several restaurant and retail spaces, a gym, a spa and a viewing platform at a height of 200 meters. Three of the floors were to be reserved for wine and delicatessen stores, galleries and cafés.
Now the giant, which is only 100 meters high so far, stands unfinished in HafenCity and the Senate reports considerable stability problems. The construction site has been suspended since October 2023 and the Signa Group of investor René Benko is insolvent. The difficulties are both technical and political in nature.
A new report by Der Spiegel uses measurement data available to the magazine to show that alarm values were already exceeded in spring 2024 – with potentially serious effects on Deutsche Bahn’s facilities. In February 2024, rotations were also recorded at the nearby Ladestraße railroad overpass, both values were well above the alarm value of 0.7. However, a spokesperson for the responsible authority explained that the monitoring had been agreed “under private law” between Deutsche Bahn and the client.
The Senate states that an indication of values in the red zone was already given at a meeting with the commissioned surveying company on January 19, 2024. Nevertheless, it remains a mystery why the building inspectorate was not informed of the violations earlier. It is uncertain how the mega-project will continue. Torsten Martini, insolvency administrator for the Elbtower project, declined to comment. In the meantime, negotiations are ongoing with the potential investor and real estate entrepreneur Dieter Becken. Support could come from logistics entrepreneur Klaus-Michael Kühne, but he is sceptical: “I don’t think it can be realized,” the 87-year-old told Der Spiegel.