Client: City of Reutlingen
Project period: March – July 2023
The project in brief
The city of Reutlingen is looking for: innovative, high-profile and – above all – economically viable concepts for the subsequent use or new use of the Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof property with more than 13,000 square meters (plus parking areas). How can the building and its surroundings be rethought and used? What trends and needs can the property – in the middle of the city centre – meet in the future?
Together with the Reutlingen Economic Development team and in consultation with citizens and stakeholders, we at Stadtmanufaktur are developing an economically viable utilization concept for the Galeria property in Reutlingen’s city centre.
Interesting fact: the project started before it was known that Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof would be closing its location in Reutlingen at the end of January 2024. Kudos to the city of Reutlingen for its forward-looking and proactive approach.
Our way of working
Analysis: location, property, environment
We start the project with a location analysis. It quickly becomes clear that the Galeria property has the best prerequisites for a high-profile and vibrant future. The property is:
- excellent accessibility (directly at the main station),
- visible and dominant in the cityscape,
- a place of orientation (“gateway to the city center”),
- well-known in the city (awareness level of almost 100 %),
- historically significant (as a department store and cinema) and
- frequented all around (due to location and transport connections).
At the same time, there are hurdles and challenges that we are working out during the design phase – and taking into account in the new concept: The property is somewhat removed from the prime location for retail, in a very mixed environment between arrivals, residential and commercial.
Participation: interviews and think tanks
In one-on-one interviews with city stakeholders (culture, retail, gastronomy, university, sports, city administration), we delve into the emotional and rational considerations of the property – as well as Reutlingen’s city center as a whole.
These insights are supplemented by three topic-specific think tanks on: “U 30 Young Reutlingen”, “Gallery of the Region / HeimatORT” and “Typical Reutlingen”. The result: there is a strong sense of identification with one’s own city – and the ideas and needs of the very different think tank participants for a new use overlap in many ways.
Galeria property: think tank to develop the central idea
Key idea: Urban oasis – typical Reutlingen
Based on analysis and participation, the placemaking approach “The Power of 10+” and our experience in the development of utilization concepts for real estate in city centers, we formulate a central idea and a positioning for the Galeria property.
The future of the property in one sentence: The property becomes an urban oasis for creativity, entrepreneurship and leisure – lively, innovative, authentic.
Utilization concept: multifunctional, low-threshold, economical
The usage scenarios we designed for the Galeria property in Reutlingen move between needs and trends, central idea and positioning as well as the structural conditions on site. Step by step, we approach different usage variants that visibly and tangibly implement our central idea. A complex process – for the future of more than 13,000 square meters of Reutlingen.
It is particularly important to us as a team that the utilization concept we develop for the Galeria property is economically viable. For us, a well thought-out real estate concept therefore also includes a calculation that calculates the long-term profitability. Visionary ideas are one thing. However, in order to sustainably revitalize real estate, rental income and financing must also be right.
The result: Future Galeria Reutlingen
A utilization concept that really takes local needs and wishes into account and fulfils them within the framework of overarching trends and specific circumstances. That was the particular aim of the project. The real estate owner could have achieved this “empathy and embedding” at most on a national level, but we are convinced that this is not (or no longer) enough to successfully position new real estate concepts in city centers in a forward-looking way.
Instead, the subsequent use of the Galeria properties in Reutlingen follows clear guidelines: forward-looking action, local and regional investors, participation and involvement. From the end of 2024, the concept for Galeria Reutlingen can become the future. It remains exciting.
Property with a long department store tradition: from Horten to Galeria (closure at the beginning of 2024)
