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- Sep 2, 202696% CONFIDENCEfrom berlin.de
Berlin Picks the Consortium to Bring the ICC Back
- On 2 September 2026 the State of Berlin and the best bidder ("Bestbieterin") Projektpartnerschaft Quartier ICC signed an exclusivity agreement in the ongoing award procedure for the Internationales Congress Centrum, announced the same day by the Senatsverwaltung für Wirtschaft, Energie und Betriebe[2]
- The agreement gives the partnership exclusivity "bis zum 30. Juni 2027" over the ICC, its associated car park and the plot at Messedamm 9[2]
- The exclusivity phase is for negotiating the award of a heritable building right (Erbbaurechtsvergabe), envisaged "mit einer Laufzeit von 99 Jahren"; the goal is notarisation of the contract after the Abgeordnetenhaus von Berlin has dealt with it "im nächsten Jahr", following the Landeshaushaltsordnung[2]
- The basis for the talks is the concept the partnership developed over several months of competitive dialogue with a jury and presented to the public on 26 June 2026[2]; Wikipedia records the same step as the partnership receiving an official recommendation in June 2026 for reuse for events and the creative industries, and calls the redevelopment "still in development"[3]
- The award procedure began in November 2024 with a participation competition (Teilnahmewettbewerb), from which Projektpartnerschaft Quartier ICC emerged as successful applicant and best bidder[2]; Wikipedia dates the launch of the redevelopment process to 2024[3]
- The consortium brings together Arup Deutschland GmbH, Coloured Fields GmbH, GRAFT Gesellschaft von Architekten mbH, HOCHTIEF Infrastructure GmbH, ICCA Projektgruppe / Stiftung Kunstforum Berliner Volksbank, KVL Projektmanagement Berlin GmbH, Max Dudler GmbH, MIB AG Immobilien und Beteiligungen and schneider+schumacher Planungsgesellschaft mbH, spanning project development, urban planning, architecture, heritage conservation, art and culture management, engineering and construction[2]
- Senator Franziska Giffey said the agreement is "der nächste wichtige Schritt auf dem Weg zur Wiederbelebung des ICC", that the project is "im Zeitplan", and repeated her slogan "ICC dauert noch ein bisschen, aber wird mega"[2]; the Senate department's own site lists Giffey as Mayor of Berlin and Senator for Economic Affairs, Energy and Public Enterprises[4]
- Tatjana Adams of BIM Berliner Immobilienmanagement GmbH said the coming months should bring the Erbbaurechtsvertrag "zur Beurkundungsreife", laying the ground for closing the procedure and awarding the contract to the partnership, subject to the approval of the responsible bodies[2]
- The partnership called the agreement "ein weiterer Meilenstein" towards developing the iconic building and its surrounding quarter back into a lively place, above all with art and culture[2]
- The ICC itself is a former convention centre at Messedamm 22 in Westend next to Messe Berlin, designed by Ralf Schueler and Ursulina Schueler-Witte and opened in 1979; it is 313 m long, 80 m wide and 40 m tall with 80 halls and rooms, a capacity of up to 20,000 and a main auditorium planned for 5,000[3]
- It cost almost one billion marks, the most expensive construction in West Berlin of its time[3]; the B1M video that covers the abandoned building is titled "Inside Europe's $1BN Abandoned Mega Build", but that dollar figure appears only in the title and matching story URL and the video's description gives no cost[1]
- Regular operations ended on 10 April 2014 because ageing technical systems needed extensive renovation, with asbestos raising the projected cost; the building has been a protected monument since 2019[3]
- The B1M video "Inside Europe's $1BN Abandoned Mega Build", published 2025-02-19, was filmed inside the closed building - "We went inside one of Europe's biggest abandoned buildings, the one of a kind ICC Berlin" - and states "This video contains paid promotion for the City of Berlin", with a sponsor link about "the opportunity to redesign this world-famous landmark"[1]
References 487% CONFIDENCE
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- [1]90%youtube.com/watch?v=sYFbyZBvnlUyoutube.com· Posted Sep 14, 2026· Starts Sep 2, 2026· 34% of score
Berlin's[2][4] own press release fixes the day the decision landed: "Im laufenden Vergabeverfahren für das Internationale Congress Centrum (ICC) haben das Land Berlin und die als Bestbieterin hervorgegangene Projektpartnerschaft Quartier ICC heute, am 2. September 2026, eine Exklusivitätsvereinbarung unterzeichnet." That meets the city's hope of a decision before the end of 2026, so the year-end placeholder is replaced by the signing date; the ground-lease contract itself follows, with exclusivity running "bis zum 30. Juni 2027".
- [2]96%Weiterer Meilenstein für das ICC Berlin: Land Berlin vereinbart Exklusivität mit Projektpartnerschaft Quartier ICCberlin.de· Published Sep 2, 2026· Starts Sep 2, 2026 ✓· 32% of score
The Senate Department for Economic Affairs, the department running the tender, names the day in its own release - "heute, am 2. September 2026, eine Exklusivitätsvereinbarung unterzeichnet" - which is what the pin was waiting for and retires its year-end placeholder. It also bounds what follows: "Damit erhält die Projektpartnerschaft bis zum 30. Juni 2027 Exklusivität für das ICC und das dazugehörige Parkhaus."[1]
- [3]78%International Congress Centrum Berlin – Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org· Published Aug 1, 2026· 28% of score
Wikipedia confirms a June 2026 "official recommendation for a proposal to reuse the building," noting the ICC revival "is still in development" rather than finalized, consistent with the pin's own "estimated" end-of-2026 decision target rather than a firm date.
- [4]70%Berlin Senate Department for Economic Affairsberlin.de· Published Jun 1, 2025· 6% of score
Berlin's[2] Senate Department for Economic Affairs page, the city's own economic-development portal, did not surface specific ICC content when checked, making this a weaker, tangential reference resting mainly on the department's general authority over such redevelopment decisions rather than a direct confirmation.
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