- Berlin says goodbye to the Galeries Lafayette
On the final day of the luxury department store Galeries Lafayette in Berlin, locals and tourists were once again drawn to the glass building on Friedrichstraße. Some were hoping to snatch up an overlooked bargain on the already nearly empty sales floors. Others came to take a last look at the building or to say goodbye.
A photo of the "end of capitalism"
"I've only been to the department store once, many years ago," said one visitor. "But I thought, since it's the end of capitalism, I might as well take some photos." For nearly 30 years, Galeries Lafayette was a fixture in the center of Berlin. Now it's closing and serves as another example of the economic challenges faced by stationary retail in German city centers for years.
Last fall, the French department store chain announced the closure of its only German location in Berlin. Since then, there has been a debate about how the glass building designed by French architect Jean Nouvel should be used in the future.
Culture Senator Joe Chialo (CDU) aims for the move of the Landesbibliothek
Berlin's Culture Senator Joe Chialo (CDU) wants the Berlin Central and State Library (ZLB) to move into the building. The institution, which is in urgent need of renovation, has been searching for a new location for years. There are many supporters of Chialo's idea, but the financing is still not clear.
Moreover, time is running out for the senator. While the owner, Tishman Speyer, is open to the ZLB moving in, as a spokesperson emphasized upon request, negotiations with the state-owned property management company (BIM) are currently underway. At the same time, the company is pushing ahead with its own plans for mixed use of the building for gastronomy, retail, and office space, it was reported.
First demolition work already in September
Tishman Speyer confirmed a report by the "Tagesspiegel" that the first demolition work in the interior of the building will begin as early as September. For the first quarter of the coming year, further renovation measures for mixed use are planned. Despite the start of these works and even after the rental of the first areas, the move of the ZLB would still be an option, the spokesperson emphasized.
"We know that they are planning in parallel," said a ZLB spokesperson. The library itself is pressing for a decision from the city. "This is simply a moment for this city that it should seize, but it's getting smaller and smaller."
A spokesperson for the Senate Administration said that negotiations between BIM and Tishman Speyer have been ongoing since July 22. The Senate is informed about the planned renovation measures, it was said. While there is no concrete deadline for when the negotiations must be completed, there is a "limited time window" until roughly the end of the summer, the spokesperson emphasized.
Trade Association is in favor of ZLB move
The managing director of the Retail Association Berlin-Brandenburg, Nils Busch-Petersen, sees a pure retail concept for the location as questionable. "There is no retailer in our view who would go to this location," he said to RBB Inforadio. A use of the building by the ZLB is therefore a "very, very good" basic idea. "These are exactly the kinds of urban uses that we have come to see as existential for city centers during Corona," said Busch-Petersen.
The Lafayette visitor shares this view. "I'm very much in favor of the library moving in there," she says. "Because the library is incredibly important." However, the building is in disrepair and often overcrowded. "I'm very much in favor of investing the money to build the new library here."
- Despite the closure of Galeries Lafayette, there's been a proposal to move the Berlin Central and State Library (ZLB) into the vacant building by Berlin's Culture Senator Joe Chialo from the CDU.
- The Retail Association Berlin-Brandenburg's managing director, Nils Busch-Petersen, supports the idea of the ZLB moving into the Galeries Lafayette building, considering it a "very, very good" concept for the location.
