Project on track

Mayor of Wels builds apartments in Gmunden

Apartments with a view of Lake Traunsee are to be built on the upper floors of the post office building in Gmunden.(Bild: Wolfgang Spitzbart)

The conversion of the post office building in Gmunden is in the starting blocks. Around 50 new apartments are to be built. Behind the project is the non-profit housing cooperative "Familie" and the real estate company "Wohnen mit Stil", of which the FP city leader Andreas Rabl from Wels is a shareholder.

Critics of the mayor of Wels have identified incompatibilities and free trade in the project to convert the post office building in Gmunden, as Rüdiger Fritz, a Liberal, took over the building portfolio from the ÖVP in Gmunden in 2021. In 2022, after lengthy negotiations, planning permission was finally granted.

The mayor of Wels, Andreas Rabl (FP).(Bild: Markus Wenzel)

"It was actually one of my first projects. However, the framework conditions were created in the previous period. We even showed the project planners the limits and did not allow conversions on the top floor," says Fritz.

Rüdiger Fritz has been an FP building councillor in Gmunden since 2021.(Bild: Markus Wenzel)

Everything is legally flawless
Rabl sees no problem with his "secondary occupation": "I bought the house with a partner around 15 years ago. I wasn't mayor then. Just as I am allowed to buy shares, I am also allowed to invest in companies."

Tug of war with the design advisory board
It took a long time to obtain planning permission. "The design advisory board kept us busy for five years." This was followed by two years of detailed planning. The start of construction now depends on the success of the sale of the apartments, which begins in spring.

City misses out on 300,000 euro payment
In any case, his company has saved itself 300,000 euros, which would have been due to the city for the construction of the nearby "Michlgründe" parking garage. After a long planning phase, the city ultimately scuttled the project in 2022 against the wishes of the FP. Fritz is angry: "The city should have agreed that the payment of the 300,000 euros would be obligatory with the construction of the apartments and not dependent on the construction of the garage."