Since 04/29/16 the house community is acting in negotiating purchases with the owner of the house in Friedelstraße 54. On 05/01/16 we received the termination of our Kiezladen in the groundfloor. From the negotiations we have withdrawed but we always noticed that the they were long-drawn-out. Most of all it’s Citec who provoked the sluggish progress through hesitant or no answers.
Since the dismantling of the scaffolding in the inner courtyard we now heard of a note in the land register which was entered on 07/01/16. The company which is entered there is called “Pinehill s.a.r.l.” and is located in Luxembourg. It looks like the selling of the house is nearly done.
Citec also terminated the lease of another trade in the groundfloor. Since years a dental technician is resident here. We assume that this is a tactical move of Citec because a house with free space for trades is outselling.
In retrospect one can assume that in the first place the tactic of Citec was to minimize the resistance from the house and the supporters.
The local politics – namely the mayor of Neukölln Giffey and the construction councilor Blesing – were informed at any time how endeavor and determined the house community was negotiating. However no one from the politicans has contributed. Once again one can see that the politics of Neukölln are just a part of the whole problem of Berlin. Either they allow displacement or actively encourage it.
That’s all we know at the moment. It’s a scandal the house was sold without informing the residents and the Kiezladen. Now we will glean more information about the selling and we will fight together with the house community and all of you supporters to taken the house off the real estate market. Furthermore our goal is to self-organize Friedelstraße 54. But it seems that the new owner does not fear our resistance otherwise they wouldn’t have bought the house. Therefore we have to prepare ourselves for any thinkable situation. Please be aware of announcements!
In solidarity with all people affected by displacement,
Yours Kiezladen Friedel54 Collective
