Keys handed over in Lienz: With the official opening ceremony on Friday 21 June 2024, SES Spar European Shopping Centers has successfully implemented its first hotel project. After just under two years of construction, with harry’s home a timeless and modern city hotel has been created in the centre of Lienz. The formal handover took place in the presence of SPAR Real Estate Director Marcus Wild and the Mayor of Lienz, Elisabeth Blanik, when together with the investment partners Kronberg International and the Styrian Medical Association, SES CEO Christoph Andexlinger handed over the symbolic key to the hotel’s present operator, harry’s home founder and CEO Harald Ultsch. During the construction, SES focused strongly on sustainable real estate development. Two thirds of the construction services were executed by regional companies in East Tyrol.

The ground breaking for harry’s home Lienz in East Tyrol took place in August 2022. It is the first hotel project realised by SES Spar European Shopping Centers as the project developer and 50 percent investor, together with the investment partners Kronberg International and the Styrian Medical Association (Ärztekammer Steiermark). More than EUR 17 million has been invested in the project in Lienz town centre, creating a modern hotel for business travellers and holidaymakers with an area of around 1,900 m² that now stands at the crossroads of the B100 and Andreas-Hofer-Straße.

Marcus Wild, SPAR Real Estate Director:
“With SES in the SPAR Group we have cumulative expertise in real estate development, construction and the operation of shopping malls – in six countries in Europe. It was very clear that we should use this expertise for a hotel project, which was simply the logical next step. So together with our investment partners, we invested in the Group’s first hotel project in the sunny town of Lienz, and with harry’s home we selected a top-class partner as the operator. We are delighted to be officially handing over the project today.”

Christoph Andexlinger, CEO SES Spar European Shopping Centers:
“SES creates vibrant spaces with the greatest relevance to customers – this is the guiding principle that we have lived up to for our shopping destinations, and it applies equally to SES’s first hotel project here in Lienz: here too people will feel at ease and find everything they need to make their visit a real experience. SES has also successfully put sustainability into practice – in the construction and operation, by concentrating on conserving resources with the materials used, and by selecting regional companies as suppliers. I wish the Ultsch family and all the team every success in this truly vibrant location!”

The soft opening took place back in February with the presentation of specimen rooms. The hotel has been in operation since the beginning of May, and now the official opening ceremony has followed with around 100 invited guests.

Special thanks for the project came from Elisabeth Blanik, Mayor of Lienz, at the official key handover: “The expansion of the available beds is of great importance for Lienz as a location in terms of both the economy and tourism, because the associated additional footfall will increase the purchasing power in both the town and the region.”

Dr. Martin Hellweger, owner of Kronberg International:
“We invest in projects that represent added value for the region; this also ensures that they are attractive for investors. Both are particularly important for us – so the harry’s home hotel in Lienz is quite clearly an investment in the future. We were able to support this project successfully together with the best partners.”

Dr. med. Gert Kollegger, chair of the Administrative Committee of the Styrian Medical Association:
“Our investments are focused on the long term and have to fit with our portfolio. We concentrate on diversification, to achieve the target returns with the smallest possible risk. Even though our assets do not have to conform to ESG principles, we are still delighted when a sustainable and green project like harry’s home can be implemented.”

A harry’s home for the sunny town of Lienz
Opened in May 2024, the modern harry’s home Lienz in East Tyrol welcomes business travellers and holidaymakers all year round. The hotel is the 15^th location for the Tyrol hotel group founded by Harald Ultsch, providing 85 rooms with upscale furnishings, 170 beds and 42 parking spaces. Two thirds of the rooms have a balcony or terrace. And from the top floor guests can also enjoy a wonderful view of the Lienz Dolomites. “harry’s home meets the requirements of a very broad target group: businesspeople, families, holidaymakers, sports groups and many more. We are looking forward to welcoming guests in the ‘second capital of Tyrol’ from 2024,” said Harald Ultsch, CEO of harry’s home.

Regional value creation, responsibility for the environment
SES, the real estate developer, constructor and operator of shopping centres in six countries, takes its responsibility for the people and the environment in the respective regions very seriously. It was also their top priority when developing and constructing the hotel project in Lienz, so around two thirds of the construction services contracts were executed by companies in the East Tyrol region.

Conserving resources thanks to geothermal and photovoltaic energy
When constructing the hotel, SES was committed to sustainable property development: the energy comes from renewable geothermal and photovoltaic sources, so that resources can be conserved during operation. The warmth for heating is largely provided by a groundwater heat pump: the groundwater is withdrawn and returned via two newly constructed wells that are 30 metres deep. The peak load is covered by an additional connection to the district heating system. The building is also entirely cooled with groundwater. In total around 7,000 cubic metres of soil was dug out for the construction of harry’s home Lienz, while around 3,900 cubic metres of concrete and 470 tons of structural steel were installed.