Controversial new building

Tenant protests against the demolition of a block of flats

The demolition of the block of flats in Max-Winter-Straße is criticized by the tenants.(Bild: Wolfgang Spitzbart .)

The days of the block of flats built in the 1950s on Max-Winter-Straße in Lenzing are numbered. This year, the "Gemeinnützige Siedlungsgesellschaft" (GSG) is planning a new building on the approximately one-hectare site. Tenants are becoming increasingly resentful. Some are even resisting the move. 

For 68 tenants of the apartments once owned by the municipality of Lenzing and sold to GSG last year, it's time to pack their moving boxes. But not everyone wants to accept this. "I have an existing tenancy agreement and don't want to leave. I haven't been offered any alternatives so far," says one angry resident. Mayor Rudolf Vogtenhuber (SP) is the target of criticism.

Head of the village criticized
He is accused of selling the apartments to GSG because he is on the supervisory board and his son is supposed to do estate agent business for GSG. "What nonsense! That's not true. It's true that I'm on the supervisory board. But every mayor of Lenzing has done that so far. The apartment block was sold following a unanimous decision by the municipal council and a suggestion from the Court of Auditors, as building houses is not the core competence of a municipality."

An end to low rents 
The head of the municipality emphasizes that every tenant will be offered a replacement. "There will be no more rents of three euros per square meter."