Who Can With Whom? Inside Vienna's Investor Bubble

When researching the Austrian real estate sector for a bit longer, one thing quickly becomes apparent: it's complicated. Purchase contracts contain nondescript company names, often simply corresponding to the address of the purchased property. This is not uncommon, especially in the investment sector. However, to gain a reasonable overview of the Vienna real estate market, it is necessary to trace these company structures and transactions precisely. The research often reveals the same well-known names. On the personnel level, the same people frequently move back and forth between real estate corporations. This raises the question: Who can actually work with whom?

The Real Estate Circle Around August and Lukas de Roode

It is hard to get around the family name de Roode in the Vienna real estate world. Investor August de Roode was involved in the 2000s in the case surrounding former Libro CEO André Rettberg, who was convicted of embezzlement and balance sheet falsification in 2021. He is now primarily active as the managing director of the Vitruvius real estate group, KRG Immobilienmanagement GmbH, and WI Bauträger GmbH. The first two purchased properties in Vienna worth a total of over 41.3 million euros from 2020 onwards. Additionally, he is also the managing director responsible for HEWE Bau and the upscale Quartier Starhemberg.

The significantly younger Lukas de Roode, at 27 years old, is also actively involved in the Vienna real estate world. Since 2019, he has been the managing director of easyflat, a platform that mediates holiday apartments across Austria à la Airbnb. Furthermore, alongside August André de Roode, he is the managing director at HEWE, KRG, and WI. Together with Cineplexx-Austria and Constantin-Film managing director Christof Papousek and Lucas Langhammer, he represents the Palade Immoinvest GmbH, founded by them in 2022.

Ronny Pecik and His Numerous Connections

There is probably hardly a real estate company where investor Ronny Pecik hasn't had a hand in. From chairman of the board to managing director of Immofinanz (now CPI) and simultaneously the largest shareholder of S IMMO - Pecik often caused a stir with his numerous involvements. Most recently, he helped the struggling 6B47 out of trouble and, with partners, bought the problematic Althan Quartier in the 9th district from them. The price was kept confidential.

Thalhof Immobilien Can Work With Everyone

Thalhof Immobilien and its managing director Moritz Zöchling are particularly active. Union Investment and Thalhof Immobilien entered into business with the sale of the office ensemble "Rund Vier" in the Viertel Zwei. He took over KREUGA Immobilien GmbH from ALRAG board member Klaus Fischer, just four months after its founding by Fischer and Jakob Bleckmann. They have also done business with S Immo. Furthermore, Zöchling owns Moritz Beteiligungen GmbH, which shares its address with Zöchling RE, led by Michael Zöchling. And here it gets interesting: the latter has been the managing director of Signa Rem Transactions GmbH since 2017. Since 2003, he has been responsible for the power of attorney for all real estate companies of Billa founder Karl Wlaschek. 

Michael Tojner

For billionaire and investor Michael Tojner, things have been on a steep upward trajectory for a long time. His numerous investments in the industrial and real estate sectors have brought him international recognition and a considerable fortune. However, he has massively fallen out with the non-profit developers: in 2019, he was charged with fraud and breach of trust by the state of Burgenland. The proceedings are still ongoing, and the presumption of innocence applies.

The controversial Heumarkt project is also attributed to Tojner, more specifically to his Wertinvest Immobilienentwicklungs GmbH. The plan was to erect a high-rise building on the site of the former Intercontinental Hotel at Vienna's Heumarkt – a venture that ultimately led to Vienna's city center being placed on UNESCO's Red List of endangered World Heritage sites.

Tojner also collaborates with other major players in the Vienna real estate industry, for example, as managing director of JP Immobilien Invest Zwei GmbH. It is a subsidiary of the JP Immobiliengruppe around Daniel Jelitzka, who is the second managing director of the company.

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(Red)

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