Ostfeld project: Wiesbaden fights for growing deficits and complaints!

Ostfeld project: Wiesbaden fights for growing deficits and complaints!

Ostfeld, Deutschland - Wiesbaden faces a financial nightmare! The city councils are in turmoil, because the annual cost overview for the MEGA project Ostfeld shows a frightening deficit of 206 million euros. While total expenses increase to shocking 847 million euros, the income decreases to only 641 million euros. The critics of the urban development measure weather morning air, because the numbers speak a clear language!

The construction prices explode while the city sits on stagnating building land prices. A sales price of 1,265 euros per square meter for residential land seems a long way off, and the first revenues from property sales are only expected in 2029. But that's not the only problem! The uncertainties around the planned 10,000 apartments in the Ostfeld are enormous. If the plans change, the city could get into a cost trap for social infrastructure such as schools and daycare centers. And what about the court proceedings? The VGH Kassel will soon decide on standards control lawsuits that question the legality of the development measure!

legal hurdles and infrastructural challenges

The city has another big problem: the required rail connection of the Ostfeld! While the connection of the campus of the Federal Criminal Police Office via the Ländchesbahn to Niedernhausen appears feasible, it looks dark for the residential area in the south. A feasibility study for a new railway line has not yet made a breakthrough, and the previous suggestions are anything but eligible. Political resistance to a tram in Wiesbaden seems to be emerging, which further tightens the situation.

The expropriation of landowners hovers like a sword of Damocles above the project. Over 72 parcels with almost 24 hectares are in possession of 90 owners, and the city has made purchase offers of only 3.7 million euros. Selling the willingness is low, but the city hopes for an exchanges to avoid expropriations. The upcoming judgments of the VGH could be decisive for the future of the Ostfeld!