Reeperbahn TV

18. November 2024

After more than ten years it has happened!

Breakthrough in the Paloma district: 100 per cent affordable housing, creative spaces and a hotel to be built

After the delays of recent years, the Paloma district in the heart of St. Pauli is now about to be realised. The SAGA Group and Quantum Immobilien AG intend to take over the site of the former ‘Esso houses’ from Bayerische Hausbau Development by the end of 2024 and further develop the utilisation concept. The necessary building permits and subsequent start of construction are expected by the end of next year. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price.

SAGA and Quantum intend to realise the construction project with a clear focus on social sustainability and cultural use - and with particular added value for the district: 100 percent of the planned flats will be available as publicly subsidised housing. A separate building is to be constructed directly on Spielbudenplatz for cultural and creative uses, and a hotel is also planned.

Letters of Intent have now been signed with the municipal SAGA group of companies, Hamburg-based project developer Quantum and the previous project sponsor Bayerische Hausbau Development with the involvement of the urban development, finance and culture authorities and the Hamburg-Mitte district authority, which are intended to set out the joint intentions and provide the project with the necessary security to transfer the property, probably before the end of this year, and to move directly into the planning and approval phase. This will create a forward-looking project in St. Pauli that will offer both exclusively affordable living space and extensive creative areas. Bayerische Hausbau Development is withdrawing from the project realisation and paving the way for the new partners.

SAGA and Quantum are planning to build a total of 164 exclusively subsidised flats in collaboration with Schenk Fleischhaker Architekten. The residential buildings will be six and eight storeys high. There will also be premises for a daycare centre and six additional commercial units with a total of around 1,500 square metres of floor space. Towards Spielbudenplatz, Quantum will realise a hotel building and a commercial property for cultural uses, which are being planned by architects SKAI. The premises for neighbourhood-specific club and cultural uses will be managed by Hamburg Kreativ Gesellschaft and made available to it. The additional creative property will provide space for creative uses on seven floors, with additional space for a live music club on the ground floor and basement.

Now that the letters of intent have been signed, the preliminary building permits are to be applied for in the near future in order to move the project quickly into the construction phase. Construction work is scheduled to start in 2026 at the latest. This will bring the long period of uncertainty to an end and St. Pauli will gain new, affordable residential and creative spaces for a wide range of cultural uses that preserve the character and community of the neighbourhood.

Karen Pein, Senator for Urban Development and Housing: ‘Our perseverance has paid off. The Paloma neighbourhood is finally being realised in line with its original purpose: With affordable flats as well as a number of opportunities and spaces for cultural uses. After long negotiations and with the assurance of public funding, we have successfully managed to secure a sustainable project with exclusively subsidised SAGA flats, with communal areas, a hotel and a complete building just for the creative industries with rooms for a music club and for many other creative uses in the middle of the city - this is also an unusual project for Hamburg. With the Letters of Intent, all sides have now made a comprehensive commitment so that things can get started quickly."