Urban Soul at Bonn central station New trouble looms over major construction project
BONN · Düsseldorf investors are arguing with the city about not only the facade of the Urban Soul complex, but also about the cost of the project. Citing additional expenses due to hurdles faced during construction, it wants 14.3 million euros from the city for residual costs.
In addition to a dispute over the color of the brick façade of the Urban Soul buildings, the city council now has another problem. Düsseldorf investors "Die Developer" have submitted a claim worth millions. As shown in confidential documents obtained by GA, the investor is pushing the City of Bonn for around ten million euros more in residual costs than stated in the purchase agreement. The residual costs cover, for example, the removal of contaminated sites - which the buyer can deduct from the purchase price at the end.
According to reports, the purchase price for the investor was around 23 million euros. The contract stipulated residual costs of 4.3 million euros, but the investor now wants 14.3 million euros instead. Neither the city administration nor the investor wanted to comment on the situation while negotiations were ongoing.
Deputy city spokesman Marc Hoffmann, however, communicated that in principle: "The data known at the time of the awarding and the conclusion of the contract were taken into account. This means that it was not to be expected that any unusual expenses would have to be taken into account." Bastian Julius, project manager of Urban Soul, also did not want to comment publicly. "These are the contents of the contract, and we must treat them confidentially," he said in response to an inquiry.
The additional costs are blamed on the stabilization of the statics as well as extra vibration and noise protection. Being close to the train station, this was taken into account in the initial planning, but exact calculations could not have been made in advance, experts say.
How much additional work had to be carried out is still being examined. Some of the extra costs involved the removal of asbestos, unexpected finds such as bunker gates and an oil tank, and delays because cables and lines had not been removed in time by the respective providers despite on-time requests. As GA learned, it is now in the hands of lawyers for the city who must check whether and to what extent the claims are justified.
(Orig. text: Lisa Inhoffen, Philipp Königs; Translation: ck)
