Bargain in Baden

Austrian army sells barracks via online platform

The Martinek barracks, which have been closed since 2013, are once again up for sale.(Bild: BMLV)

Real estate investors could currently find a real bargain in Baden, Lower Austria. The Austrian Armed Forces have advertised a former barracks on the online platform willhaben.at. 

A square meter of building land in the district of Baden currently costs around 193 euros. The site of the former barracks plus the buildings on it are available for the ridiculously low price of around 175 euros per square meter. A total of 5.8 million euros is being sought for the former military site.

Under monument protection
The site measures a total of 33,013 square meters and contains several buildings, halls and the former sports park. However, the barracks buildings themselves are currently listed buildings.

The Austrian Armed Forces therefore only intend to sell part of the site, which is designated in the zoning plan as "special building land - hospital" and "green belt - immission control".

For decades, the barracks had housed a tank artillery battalion, a motorized infantry school and a medical facility. In 2013, the Ministry of Defense decided to close it down for good and most of the military infrastructure was relocated to Zwölfaxing.

Sale has already failed twice
After that, there were various ideas for using the site. The city of Baden, for example, considered setting up a research and production campus for technology. 

The Austrian Armed Forces have also tried twice to sell the property. In 2014, the Martinek Barracks, named after the artillery general Robert Martinek, was advertised for 33 million euros - without success. An attempt to sell in 2017 also failed. Perhaps a buyer will now be found to breathe new life into the old barracks site.