Another case of water damage in our restaurant sansaro - again in the same place where dripping water has been coming from the ceiling for ten years.
Our regular guests already know that, already know that - the Amalienpassage is a place of constant such problems. A very special building, but unfortunately also fragile and battered. The recurring water damage is already proverbial, and the corresponding building insurances have been skyrocketing for years. There are many individual reasons for the water damage, but when viewed together with the heating system and the condition of the concrete, the overall picture is one of an extreme investment backlog in the Amalienpassage.
Rumor has it that the heating system, the underground car park and even the foundations will have to be renovated at a cost of many millions over the next few years.
A special place with special pitfalls
We love the Amalienpassage and have helped to shape its character over many years through our own enormous commitment. At the same time, we have seen that the Amalienpassage has lost a lot of its value in recent years: many stores have been rented out as offices for years and no longer attract walk-in customers.
This is understandable, as the retail landscape has changed dramatically. Many retail units are now only successful if they offer gastronomy or food concepts.
However, they have faced extreme headwinds from a single resident in the Amalienpassage for many, many years. This resident made life difficult for the vast majority of store tenants for more than a decade, and many tradespeople felt left alone by the landlord. This also affected us enormously: in the end, the owner did nothing effective against this disadvantage of the location, only when we had spent a lot of money on a lawsuit did things calm down to some extent.
Years of investment backlog in the Amalienpassage
And the situation has been similar in other places in recent years: the overall impression has been that the owners are unwilling or unwilling to reinvest. As far as we know, there is apparently a massive renovation backlog that will burden the owners with collective special reserves in the millions over the next few years. After years of changes in property management, many overdue renovations are finally being tackled - but an impression of a lack of love remains.
This affects us in particular, because we have invested an enormous amount of love, time, effort and money in the Amalienpassage. At times, we also enjoy enormous respect and appreciation from the owner community. Establishing a restaurant in this location that runs well and doesn't cause any problems with the neighbors is quite an achievement. In addition, we have actively participated in the beautification of the passage. However, it becomes frustrating when we see the problems in the passage every day in summer and winter. Proposed improvements - often measures that are relatively inexpensive - are then not understood or not implemented by the owners' association.
Sale of the commercial units in the Amalienpassage
Now there is renewed uncertainty - the commercial units in the Amalienpassage are to be sold. This is probably happening against the background that the owners of the passage are facing renovations costing millions: whether it's the sewage network, the heating network or even the concrete foundations: there is rot everywhere and, according to reports, many things are no longer allowed to be operated in this form.
Technically complex, sometimes impossible renovations
Apparently, the owners are not only facing multi-million euro renovations - the atmosphere in the community of owners also seems to have become extremely toxic in recent years. The community of owners is very fragmented, some see the apartment as an investment, some live in it themselves and want to save as much as possible. The declaration of division from the 1970s does not contain any opening clauses, but there are one or two pitfalls. The special feature of the architecture, the successful urban planning approach not only brings with it technical problems such as a particularly bright sound, but there is also the possibility that the Amalienpassage could be placed under a preservation order, as have other properties by the architect in Munich. In short, it is a very special property that is extremely interesting and valuable for connoisseurs, but in which a great deal of love (and capital) must - or should - be invested.
Future uncertain for tenants
This is because these investments have apparently not been made in recent years, leading to considerable frustration among the tenants on site, to very grindy corners where dogs are constantly peeing (including the unwillingness of the owners' association to solve such supposedly minor problems on site in view of the expensive, major problems on the balance sheets) and to constant water damage, which has been known for years and keeps cropping up again and again, resulting in considerable operating costs, as insurance costs have risen dramatically.
The future of the Amalienpassage is uncertain. We ourselves have invested an enormous amount of time, money and love in the location. In recent years, however, our enthusiasm for the location has waned considerably for various reasons relating to the building fabric, the behavior of the landlord and decisions made by the owners' association. This is a shame, because we are tied to the location in a special way: after all, the sansaro restaurant was built in relation to the location (and no one else can operate a restaurant in our store unit due to the special situation under building and private law), but we are also dependent on how the environment develops and that we find a professional, tidy and clean environment. We believe in the Passage, but how it continues depends on more than just us.
