LINZ. Hotel or apartments? How and with what use the Ibis location should be further developed at the Knowledge Tower was again a topic in the design advisory board today, Monday. In February (as reported), a concept was presented there, behind which the owner BIP Immobilien was considering redeveloping the area in the future with the construction of apartments. The Advisory Board was open to the project, but there were still some points of criticism.
As of today, however, plans for residential construction are “officially” off the table, and the location near the main train station is now to be further developed into its current hotel function. This swing did not come as a complete surprise, as another hotel business was already in the pipeline after the first presentation.
Change at the hotel operator
In the meantime, interest in the hotel industry at the location has increased again, and city tourism is on the up again, the owner justified this decision in an OÖN interview. It is already clear that the future operator will be someone else. The expiring lease agreement with the Ibis hotel is not about to be extended; this should still be in the area by the end of the year. If possible (duration of the procedure), the conversion should start next year, it is said.
Like the first, the new design goes back to the architects Kneidinger ZT GmbH, who also presented the show today. The plan is to renovate the existing building and add two floors, the number of rooms is to increase from around 140 to around 180 rooms. The room size on the upper floors is said to be 24 or 35 square meters, larger than that of the standard rooms (17 square meters). There are also plans to build an additional lift for barrier-free access to the public underground car park, with seminar rooms, a restaurant and the like on the ground floor. Photovoltaic elements, among other things, are used in the facade design.
The consultation of the design advisory board lasted only briefly yesterday, then the green light was given for the project. “The change in use from hotel to living has raised a lot of questions, but they are all rid of them now,” was the introductory tenor of the experts, who spoke of a “coherent and beautiful” project. The only optimization point from the point of view of the advisory board: the design, i.e. the greening concept of the roof areas.
Source: Nachrichten
