Vianna Mariahilfer Strasse
Vienna | Mariahilfer Strasse: Decline in space and trend to more gastro
The inner Mariahilfer Strasse, Austria’s lar- gest shopping street, reflects the shifts in the shopping landscape. Despite numerous challenges like construction sites and a diffi- cult retail environment, it has demonstrated an amazing ability to adapt with the increa- sing importance of gastronomy and services.
The inner Mariahilfer Strasse is the best known and, with slightly over 210,000 sqm of selling space (including neighbouring areas on the side streets), the largest high street in this country. The general transfor- mation of the local shopping landscape can
page 11) but is now a clearly negative fac- tor, also because the disruptive construc- tion site will likely be present for a longer time. The climate in the neighbouring streets has also been adversely affected by construction works for the Neubaugasse
hilfer Strasse exceeds the overall average, primarily because the interest of potential tenants is massively concentrated on the ground floor. Space on the first and second upper floors is increasingly disappearing from the market and re-emerging in a new form as offices, hotels or apartments. The underlying reasons here include the high costs of multi-storey business premises (stairs, escalators, additional personnel, increased risk of theft due to less efficient monitoring/visibility), which are often impossible to finance with current earnings. The steadily growing importance of the gastronomy and service offering is also striking. The retail share still amounts to 67 per cent (this value was artificially reduced by the Leiner closing and the postpone- ment of the Lamarr project), whereby the greatest decline by far was registered in the
be clearly seen here – and covers the branch mix as well as the trend away from larger shopping malls to the increasing use of retail areas for gastronomy and services. In 2023 and 2024, this traditional shopping mile was confronted not only with a generally difficult retail environment but also with the stop of construction on SIGNA’s major “Lamarr“ project. This project was
Space on the first and second upper floors is increasingly disappearing from the market and re-emerging in a new form as offices, hotels or apartments.
expected to set the stage for a substantial upgrade of the entire surrounding area (see the article on the “SIGNA-bankruptcy“,
underground station, which have been underway for several years. The reduction of selling space on the Maria-
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Retail Market Report
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