Hamburg's Ongoing Tussle with Companies over Two Contentious Lots
Ongoing land dispute in Hamburg advances to subsequent stage - Controversy escalates over two Hamburg land parcels, advancing to the next phase
Hey there! This dispute in good ol' Hamburg is quite the eye-catcher. The city's got a neat little trick up its sleeve - a right of first refusal. See, whenever a piece of land changes hands, the city can step in and snatch it up to mold the cityscape according to its grand vision.
But, back in May 2021, things got twisty. The companies in question decided to sell off their properties to shell corporations, each owned by the same shareholder as the selling company. One plot went to the city, while the other received a waiver, accepting certain terms. The companies even took the city to court over the purchase, winning first at the Administrative Court and then at the Higher Administrative Court.
The Hamburg courts claimed that the sales weren't really contracts with outsiders, just transfers among the same shareholders. For the city to exercise its right of first refusal, they argued, it needed a contract with an outside party.
But here's where things get interesting - the case was then taken up by the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig, who looked at things a bit differently. Even if the sellers and buyers were one-person companies owned by the same shareholder, they still saw it as a contract with a third party. The companies themselves had chosen this approach, after all.
However, the Federal Administrative Court couldn't make a decision alone and passed the buck back to the Higher Administrative Court. They'll now decide whether the city lawfully exercised its right of first refusal.
- Hamburg, known as the Hanseatic city since the Middle Ages
- Plot of land, where the dispute ensued
- BVerwG - Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig
- Altona, a district within Hamburg
- Seller and Buyer, the companies entangled in the dispute
Now, with regards to updates on this dispute, it looks like you'll have to dig deeper. There seems to be nary a peep about this specific dispute in recent search results. If you're interested in the right of first refusal in German property law or the general role of the BVerwG, I can fill you in. But for current and detailed updates, you'll probably want to consult specialized German legal news sources, official court publications, or legal counsel with access to recent case files.
In the ongoing legal battle, the case involving the disputed plots of land in Hamburg, specifically the one in Altona, has been taken up by the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig, or BVerwG, for a decision on whether the city lawfully exercised its right of first refusal. Meanwhile, if you're interested in investing in real-estate, especially in Hamburg, understanding the right of first refusal can be crucial, as it could potentially affect business deals in the city.
