Local development

Harder ÖVP wants to examine Löwen buyback

René Bickel sees the entire village development in Hard at risk. He is therefore calling for a complete restart.(Bild: Matthias Dietrich)

VP parliamentary group leader René Bickel sees the entire local development at risk due to the financial problems of the "Löwen" owner. Mayor Martin Staudinger (SPÖ) is called upon to act quickly.

The former "Löwen" inn is one of the most striking buildings in the center of Harden - and also an eyesore. The historic building should have been given a new lease of life: Around one and a half years ago, the property was sold by the market town for around two million euros to Rankweiler real estate developer Joe Welte (Inside96), and the venerable Kreuzschwesternhaus was given as a gift as a kind of bonus. Only ten of the eleven ÖVP MPs voted against the deal at the time. And today, the Blacks see their skepticism confirmed: Because nothing has happened since then, the "Löwen" is visibly deteriorating. In addition, Inside96 has considerable financial problems and is struggling to survive. This is exactly what they feared, says René Bickel, VP parliamentary group leader from Harden. He calls on Mayor Martin Staudinger to contact Inside96 immediately and examine how the sale could be reversed.

We demand that immediate contact be made with Inside96 and that a legal examination be carried out to determine how the sale can be reversed.

René Bickel, Fraktionsobmann der Volkspartei Hard

Because if Inside96 slips into insolvency, the municipality would probably lose all influence on the further development of the site, says Bickel. The VP politician believes in the possibility of a new start: "I have already held talks with a number of potential investors from Hard and some of them would be interested in developing the Löwen." René Bickel sees the entire village development in Hard at risk. He is therefore calling for a completely new start.