50 potential bidders gathered at Hotel Royal on Wednesday to make an offer for the UNESCO World Heritage site, but in the end, nobody came forward with a proposal.
Aside from serious bidders, the audience also included a number of people curious about the future of the ‘Îlot Gastronomique’ building, which is located at the fish market in the old town of Luxembourg City. In the end, none of the people present at the auction made an offer, which is believed to be due to the owner’s right to refuse any bid. A rumour that owner Madeleine ‘Mado’ Funck would not accept anything below €10 million made rounds before the auction kicked off.
The building in question can house up to nine cafés and restaurants and also has three studios. The area up for sale combines over 2,000 square metres and extends over 362 square metres, which, based on the average price in the old town of the capital, puts the value of the land at €6.2 million.
Since no bid was made after 30 minutes, the notary eventually informed the audience that the owner decided to cancel the auction. Funck was unwilling to provide a comment after the event.
Speaking to our colleagues from RTL Télé, Notary Pierre Metzler, who was in charge of the auction, stated that “talks” are underway but declined to reveal with whom.
It is now evident that the auction was unnecessary and merely showed potential buyers that interest in the îlot gastronomique is low. While the property is in the old town, the capital’s historic heart, and is just across the street from the high-end ‘Siggi’ residential building, the potential buyer of the îlot gastronomique will have limited options regarding renovations. According to the general development plan of Luxembourg City, the building is listed in the inventaire supplémentaire des monuments nationaux (“supplementary inventory of national monuments”) and is located in the Unesco zone.
Modifications to the building are not impossible, but according to Robert L. Philippart, UNESCO Site Manager at the Ministry of Culture, “agreeable and creative solutions” should be found in close cooperation with the National Institute for Archaeological Research, the National Institute for Architectural Heritage, the Unesco Site Management, and the capital’s administration. However, Philippart assured that there are no plans to turn all of Luxembourg City into one big museum. Whatever the final design is, the diversity and life in this neighbourhood “will be preserved.” Despite its classification, the building is partially in need of repair. The Luxembourg City Council has also set conditions for the future owner: the access to the courtyard must be redesigned and a transformer moved.
However, there is no guarantee that this would be enough. The tenant and manager of the restaurant “am Tiermschen”, Hilary Porteous, told our colleagues from RTL Télé that after the death of her husband Leon Nilles in 2016, Mado Funck and her children “have not invested a single euro” in the building and allegedly tried to double the rents.
Only three of the nine units intended for cafés or restaurants in the îlot gastronomique are currently occupied. All of the others are empty, because the previous tenants closed down their businesses and have not been replaced. In addition, only one of the three flats is occupied.