The Who's Who of the Vienna Real Estate World

In the year 2024, around 7.3 billion euros were spent on real estate transactions - and that in Vienna alone. Looking at the top deals of the year, it is hardly surprising how such an amount can come about. The sum of the five largest real estate sales in 2024 alone amounts to approximately 600,079,531.20 €, which is almost a tenth of the total transaction volume for Vienna. But who are the people and companies that handled these purchases?

WSF Private Foundation

Behind this name is the driving force of the largest furniture retailer in Austria: XXXLutz, or more precisely Richard Seifert, the son of the company's founder Gertrude Seifert, who passed away in 2017. In the 1970s, he took over the management of the family business "Lutz Möbel" together with his brother Andreas. Under his leadership, the Upper Austrian company quickly expanded and became the number one in the Austrian furniture trade. He founded his private foundation in 1995, and today the board includes, among others, Georg Adam Starhemberg, the 9th Prince of the Starhemberg noble family.

Recently, the foundation made headlines in the real estate world after it took over a 180 million euro real estate package from Ermione Immobilieninvest GmbH in 2024. Ermione, in turn, is one of the real estate companies of Karl Philipp Wlaschek, son of the Billa founder. The package included various tenement houses and commercial properties throughout Austria. The highlight: a tenement house in the first district of Vienna for around 61 million euros.

Jelitzka & Partner

The second-largest real estate deal that took place in 2024 was the sale of the Kärntner-Ring-Hof to JP Immobilien. Behind JP are the namesake Daniel Jelitzka and co-managing director as well as art collector Reza Akhavan. The company specializes in brokerage, property development, tenement investment, and renovation of old buildings. The real estate developers' portfolio includes the Hotel Die Josefine, the 25Hours at the Museumsquartier, and the well-known Viennese Café Prückel.

Euro Real Estate

With the title "largest real estate transaction 2024," the City Tower Vienna, which houses the Justice Center Vienna-Mitte and the shopping center The Mall, boasts a hefty purchase price of 158.5 million euros. The massive office building, which houses, among others, the Justice Center and the editorial office that researched this article, was sold by Immofinanz to Ysiona Beteiligungsverwaltung. It is interesting to note that the authorized officer of the selling company was also the managing director of the buyer's side at the time of the takeover.

Ysiona, in turn, is a company of Euro Real Estate. This, in turn, traces back to the controversial German billionaire family von Finck, known for their political engagement, who have made headlines in recent years mainly due to public inheritance disputes.

Georg Stumpf

When you say real estate investor, you must also say Georg Stumpf. At least in Austria, that's the case. Georg Stumpf senior, the father of the person in question here, was a significant construction entrepreneur. His achievements include the Wiener Stadthalle, chosen for the ESC, and the ORF Center at Küniglberg. But his son's portfolio is also impressive. The second richest Austrian today built the Millennium Tower in the 1990s and subsequently the Millennium City, which he sold in 2003 for 360 million euros.

In 2024, he bought the construction ruin of the planned Kaufhaus Lamarr on Mariahilferstraße, costing 120 million euros. The building's construction area was estimated at over 3,600 m² at the time of purchase, and partial demolition has since begun.

Karl Wlaschek Private Foundation

Even though he passed away in 2015, the private foundation of Billa and Bipa founder Karl Wlaschek still plays an immense role in the Viennese real estate world. At the time of his death, media reports suggested that every tenth building in Vienna belonged to him. His real estate investments are concentrated in three different companies: Amisola, Estrella, and Novoreal. The first two appear in the best lists of real estate sales in 2023 and 2024.

In 2023, Amisola Immobilien AG acquired the 90-meter-high Saturn Tower in the 22nd district, followed in 2024 by Estrella Immobilieninvest AG and the purchase of a Ringstrasse palace at the corner of Schottenring/Börsegasse. During his lifetime, Wlaschek invested enormous sums in the preservation of significant Viennese buildings, and his foundation is, for example, the owner of Palais Esterhazy, Kinsky, and Ferstel - and thus also of Café Central. In contrast, very little was sold. The main purpose of the foundation is the management and preservation of the acquired properties, with distributions to beneficiaries being secondary.

Moritz Thalhof

The youngest, but probably one of the most active investors on this list is the 26-year-old Moritz Zöchling. Not much is known about him, and unfortunately, his company Thalhof Immobilien declined an interview request. He is a partner and managing director of a number of companies, mainly in the real estate and investment sector. The most active is Thalhof Immobilien AG, which primarily focuses on the purchase of rental houses. Last year, the office ensemble "Rund Vier" in the urban development project "Viertel Zwei" in Leopoldstadt came into their possession. The company Thalhof Immobilien was founded in 2019, and since then, real estate transactions amounting to 308 million euros can be verified.

(Red)

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