Elbtower: Negotiations with Investors Stalled – No Further Construction in Sight
Hamburg, August 22 – For over a year, Hamburg investor Dieter Becken has been seeking partners to complete the Elbtower. However, an end to the construction halt is still not in sight. Investors are reportedly demanding political concessions, and skeptical voices are growing louder within Hamburg’s SPD.
Since December 2024, a consortium led by real estate investor Dieter Becken has been negotiating with insolvency administrator Torsten Martini about the purchase and continuation of construction of the half-finished shell at the eastern end of Hafencity. According to a framework agreement from October 2025, the planned Natural History Museum is also to be housed in the Elbtower. For this, the city would take over almost half of the building at a fixed price of 595 million euros.
Critical Voices from the SPD
However, negotiations appear to be severely stalled. Urban Development Senator Karen Pein (SPD) stated in the budget committee that there was no new development. Finance Senator Andreas Dressel (SPD) added in Friday’s session that the framework conditions for further construction had not become easier. He cited developments in interest rates and construction costs. SPD parliamentary group leader Dirk Kienscherf told the “Hamburger Abendblatt” that the probability of the Natural History Museum moving into the Elbtower was “currently very low.”
Kienscherf: Elbtower is a Private Construction Project
Apparently, the investor consortium wants concessions in view of rising construction costs. “We are prepared to talk about partial ownership if it serves to realize the Natural History Museum. We have formulated certain conditions for this, which have been available to investors for months. There will be no additional payments,” Kienscherf told the “Abendblatt.” “The Elbtower was and is a private construction project, and no citizen in this city has to fear that state money will go in at the expense of taxpayers.”
Kühne and Rossmann Also in the Investor Consortium
After the insolvency of the Signa Group of Austrian real estate investor René Benko, construction work on the Elbtower has been halted since October 2023. Originally, the currently 100-meter-high Elbtower was to become Germany’s third-highest building with 64 floors and a height of 245 meters. The current plans foresee a height of 199 meters, as can be seen from the preliminary building permit from March of this year. In addition to Becken, the investor consortium includes billionaire Klaus-Michael Kühne, the Signal Iduna insurance company, the construction company Adolf Lupp, and the founder of the Rossmann drugstore chain, Dirk Roßmann.
Elbtower Hamburg: Investor Becken Negotiates Exclusively
The Hamburg-based Becken Group is currently the sole investor negotiating the continuation of construction. This increases the chances of completion. The Senate intends to pay almost 600 million euros, thus creating the conditions for further construction. Instead of 245 meters, the Elbtower is now planned to be only 199 meters high.
This topic was broadcast on NDR 90.3 | NDR 90.3 Aktuell | 22.08.2026 | 13:00 Uhr.
Source: Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR)
