The former building of the Stifterverband in the Heidhausen district of Essen is causing unrest in local politics and among the residents of Barkhovenallee. The large property has been vacant since early 2022 and was recently purchased by the newly founded TSW Wohnbau GmbH from Bottrop. The main shareholder is Peter Jänsch, who has been renting various properties to the city of Essen for years. The new owner has now offered the building to the municipality as a refugee home.
According to the city, Essen will have to take in 1,500 refugees per year in the future and is therefore dependent on rental offers.
A tight deadline causes unrest
The company’s plan: A rental period of twelve years with an annual rent of 550,000 euros per year. In return, the owner has promised a necessary conversion for around 1.1 million euros this year. The non-public plans are available to “WAZ”.
The municipality has to make a decision quickly because the real estate owner has set an extremely tight deadline of May 18th. This causes resentment among the citizens. Residents Monika Borgwardt complains to the “Bild”: “That’s blackmail. The city is put under pressure by rich people.”
Local residents are worried about refugee shelter
Local politician and SPD councilor Philipp Rosenau can understand the anger towards the “Bild”: “I can understand that the residents are more than irritated. From our point of view, such a short decision period does not do justice to the situation. As a politician, we also want to have alternatives examined.” However, such a long contract term is not unusual, “so that you have planning security”.
The planned refugee home itself also creates uncertainty among local residents. The infrastructure with daycare and school places is not sufficient for around 250 other refugees, for example Gisela Müller complains in an interview with “Bild”. “There are just too many people. This is a raid on our neighborhood. This has nothing to do with integration. We’ve been waiting for the elementary school to be expanded and renovated for years, and strangely enough there was never any money for that.”
