Real estate mogul Christoph Gröner: No time building in Berlin?

Real estate mogul Christoph Gröner: No time building in Berlin?

Christoph Gröner, one of the most important builders in Germany, has spent his business focus on Berlin, but has not realized construction projects in the capital for two years. He played an outstanding role in financing the Berlin CDU in 2020 with a donation of 820,000 euros. At a Future Forum of his Gröner Group in Berlin in March of this year, he confessed to the social democratic ideas. Gröner describes ecological building as a cornerstone of his corporate strategy, but notes that the construction costs have increased significantly, which increasingly complicates the creation of affordable living space.

In other cities such as Munich, Hamburg and Leipzig, the property prices are significantly higher compared to the pure construction costs. Berlin has experienced a price increase for building plots in recent years, which makes it difficult to build affordable apartments. Gröner emphasizes that the scarcity of land was left to speculators, which contributes to enormous cost increases. This means that despite the increased construction costs, the main factor for high property prices in Berlin is due to the property costs.

Gröner has greatly reduced its construction project in Berlin due to exploding property prices that question a profitable new construction project development. He emphasizes that the purchasing power of the residents of Berlin is no longer sufficient to cover the necessary rents and at the same time settle property costs. This has caused his company to have no new real estate purchases in Berlin since 2022, since profitability is not available.

Berlin purchasing power is seen critically because it is considered low compared to other German cities such as Cologne or Munich. Gröner complains about the lack of financial resource in Berlin, which heavily burdened the housing market. It pleads for more efficient use of resources, for example by replacing monotonous buildings with higher floors to create more living space. Despite his vision for a sustainable future in real estate construction in Berlin, however, he shows concerns about the political willingness to implement such measures.