Berne: Migros ends market hall project
Migros Aare will not rebuild and revitalize the market hall in Bern as planned. The reason for the withdrawal is, among other things, "irreconcilable differences" in the planned takeover of the lease from Media-Markt, the cooperative says.
In February 2017, Migros Aare had presented its plans for a redesign of the Bern market hall. The 2,300 square meters of floor space were to be used for "creative gastronomy concepts," and craft businesses such as a brewery and a bakery were also planned.
To this end, Migros was to become the general tenant of the market hall and take over the lease from Media-Markt. The electronics retailer wanted to close its store at the location. This takeover will now not happen. According to Migros, an agreement between Migros Aare and Media-Markt is not realistic in the near future due to differing ideas.
However, there are also other difficulties that stand in the way of the "New Market Hall" project. According to Migros, for example, objections to the conversion of the market hall are pending, which is why the building permit is still outstanding. In order to meet the objections of the objectors with regard to noise, considerable conceptual restrictions would be necessary that would weigh too heavily overall - for example, the renunciation of live music and reduced opening hours.
Planned opening date has long since passed
In addition, extensive planning and conceptual work had been carried out since February 2017, Migros said. The objections, but also the complexity of the project in terms of building fabric, tenant fit-out and operating concept, have meant that the opening date originally planned for the end of 2017/beginning of 2018 has long since passed and a binding schedule is currently not possible. Contracts could not be concluded either with tenants or with the owner of the property, and the planning costs had also risen significantly in the meantime due to the time delay. After considering all these reasons, it was decided to discontinue the project, Migros Aare said.
According to a report by the View Media-Markt Switzerland rejects the accusations made by Migros Aare. They had kept to all written agreements, but Migros had fallen behind with the takeover of the market hall. Therefore, Media-Markt wanted to renegotiate the agreed compensation payment, the newspaper quotes from a company statement. Media-Markt was to pay Migros an amount in the high single-digit millions for the takeover of the Markthalle, a large part of which has already been paid, the company said.
