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Reuse radar

Vienna

Vienna has one of the lowest office vacancy rates of any European capital and no official count of empty homes — the city does not record vacancy, while the 2021 register count found about 104,000 flats with no main residence. The way in for a cooperative is less a stock of stranded offices than a city that still owns and allocates land: wohnfonds_wien competitions with Baugruppen lots, rezoning that caps land prices for subsidised housing, and emptied public buildings now in interim use.
An empty building in Vienna with homes, balconies and neighbours drawn onto it in ink

Empty buildings in Vienna

Vienna keeps no register of empty buildings or flats, and there is no vacancy levy, so there is no official 'empty now' layer as in Berlin; the register count of flats without a main residence exists only as district and grid statistics.

Loading map…
Colour = type of building named officially likely reported
Missing a building?

One point per building, from public records, open data and cited reports. Open one to see who says so and whether it could become homes.

Check any building in Vienna: could it become homes, and could the EHC model work there?

4 more buildings in Vienna reported in the news, not yet on the map

The articles do not give an address we could place, so these have no pin yet. From news reports, summed up in our own words with a link to each article — not checked on site by EHC.

  • Ehemalige Wiener-Allianz-Zentrale — reported conversion planned · formerly office · owner: Kollitsch InvestKollitsch Invest purchased the former headquarters to renovate it into offices, retail spaces, and affordable apartments. trend.at (2026-05-07)
  • eNNa — reported conversion under way · formerly office · 22,500 m² · owner: Art-Invest Real EstateAn existing concrete skeleton building is being refurbished into green offices that will house the Environment Agency. trend.at (2026-05-07)
  • Ferdinand-Saal — reported conversion planned · Company-ownedAfter twenty years empty, the Ferdinand hall has a new owner with plans for it. MeinBezirk.at Wien (2026-04-24)
  • Mittersteigtheater — reported conversion plannedNew plans have been drawn up for the long-disused Mittersteig theatre, described as a lost place. KURIER (2026-05-24)
Empty buildings on record
243
and 123 more with an empty shop, flat or floor
Vacant office space
454,000 m²
3.9% of the stock
Homes potential
≈ 1,627
if 30% of empty offices converted

Office figures: CBRE Office Figures Q2 2026 — total stock 11.64 million m², occupied 11.19 million m², 3.9% vacant (4.4% in the modern stock). Homes: our economic model’s conversion engine. Map built 2026-11-06.

In 3D, from today’s sources — a potential we spotted, not a plan.

Where conversion makes sense, and who to talk to

The districts where empty space, the right zoning and a working neighbourhood come together, and the owners and programmes that open a door. 454,000 m² of offices stand empty (3.9% of the stock).

A hand outlining a neighbourhood on a city map, with small houses drawn inside

Donaustadt (Eibengasse, Seestadt, Am Heidjöchl)

Half of all land the city mapped as 'in transformation' in 2024 lies here, much of it owned by wohnfonds_wien and allocated by competition.

  • 91 transformation areas covering 132 ha — half of Vienna's 266 ha (land-use mapping 2024)
  • Developer competition running now at Stadtquartier Eibengasse; Aspern Nord announced
  • Eibengasse and Am Heidjöchl are two of the five new quarters on wohnfonds_wien land

Risk: This is new building on former fields and railway land, not reuse, and far from the centre.

3 sources

Leopoldstadt and Brigittenau (Nordwestbahnhof, Nordbahnhof)

Two former railway yards close to the centre are being turned into quarters, with a subsidised-housing competition open now.

  • Bauträgerwettbewerb Nordwestbahnhof Phase A.2 running now
  • Two zoning procedures at Nordbahnhof-Innstraße and Lößlweg went to public exhibition in August 2026
  • 24 office and administration blocks (28.6 ha) in Leopoldstadt (land-use mapping 2024)

Risk: Plots go to the best project in competition; cooperatives compete with large non-profit developers.

3 sources

Landstraße (3rd district)

More land is mapped as offices and administration here than in any other district, much of it beside dense housing.

  • 48 office and administration blocks covering 50.9 ha, the most of any district (land-use mapping 2024)
  • 92 of the 569 inventoried office, administration and store buildings with 4+ storeys
  • 13 transformation areas covering 18.6 ha

Risk: Vienna's office vacancy is low (3.9%), so owners usually re-let or refurbish rather than convert.

3 sources

Penzing (Steinhof and the Wien valley)

The city-owned Otto-Wagner-Areal has a named future user for 15 of its 35 pavilions; an empty five-storey store stands on Hadikgasse.

  • 15 of 35 pavilions earmarked for the MUK by 2030/31; student housing planned
  • About 4,000 m² opened to creative interim uses from September 2025
  • Former Leiner store on Hadikgasse empty with no plans (August 2025)

Risk: Heritage protection and a city plan aimed at education, culture and health on Steinhof; no housing call has been made.

3 sources

Signals to watch

Decisions, auctions and closures that change what becomes available, and when.

  1. 2026-07-13Office vacancy edges up to 3.9%

    Only 20,559 m² let in Q2 2026, the weakest quarter since 2021; vacancy rose from 3.8% to 3.9%.

    1 source
  2. 2026-05-19Vacancy levy debated in the city council

    The Greens put the yield of a vacancy levy at about €1.1 billion per term; the governing SPÖ wants to see how other Länder fare first. No decision was taken.

    1 source
  3. 2026-03-29Lamarr shell becomes flats

    Permit granted on 24 February 2026 for about 200 flats above shops in the stalled Signa department store on Mariahilfer Straße; completion expected in Q1 2028.

    1 source
4 earlier signals
  1. 2026-01-29
    Two former kika/Leiner stores still without a future

    A year after the last stores closed, the Laxenburger Straße site is being converted to shops and offices while the Penzing and Donaustadt buildings remain under negotiation.

    1 source
  2. 2025-12-15
    8,784 council flats empty at the end of 2024

    Wiener Wohnen's answer to a freedom-of-information request: 8,784 council flats had no tenant on 31 Dec 2024 — 2,752 being re-let, 4,517 awaiting refurbishment, 1,515 held empty on purpose (merging small flats, decarbonisation) — and Wienerfeld West stands empty for demolition (124 flats).

    1 source
  3. 2025-09-02
    Steinhof pavilions open for interim use

    About 4,000 m² in the Otto-Wagner-Areal's administration building and Pavilion 21 let to creative collectives until the university moves in.

    1 source
  4. 2025-04-09
    Architects and cultural bodies call for a vacancy count

    Seven institutions point out that Vienna does not record vacancy at all; the 2021 register count shows about 104,000 flats (9.7%) with no main residence.

    1 source

Sources, and what we cannot see

27 sources connected. We only use data we may lawfully reuse; where a publisher blocks automated access we do not work around it — a person downloads it, or we ask for permission.

Every source, its licence and when we last read it
SourceAccessRecordsStatusLicence
OpenStreetMap disused/abandoned tags and brownfields
OpenStreetMap contributors
Open API335Live
2026-11-06
ODbL 1.0 (© OpenStreetMap contributors)
Rail, S-Bahn and U-Bahn stations (OpenStreetMap)
OpenStreetMap contributors
Open APIscoringLive
2026-11-06
ODbL 1.0 (© OpenStreetMap contributors)
Building heights: GlobalBuildingAtlas (TU Munich)
Zhu, X. X., Chen, S., Zhang, F., Shi, Y., Wang, Y. (2025), Technical University of Munich
GlobalBuildingAtlas: an open global and complete dataset of building polygons, heights and LoD1 3D models. Earth System Science Data 17(12), 6647–6668, doi:10.5194/essd-17-6647-2025. Read from the Parquet copy on Source Cooperative. Satellite-derived heights (typically 1.5–3 m error in Europe), turned into storeys with storey heights fitted on Berlin; used only where no register or official 3D model sizes the building.
Open download25 buildings sizedLive
2026-11-06
CC BY-NC 4.0 (heights); footprints from OpenStreetMap and Microsoft: ODbL
Building heights: Baukörpermodell (Stadt Wien)
Stadt Wien – Stadtvermessung (MA 41)
Datenquelle: Stadt Wien – data.wien.gv.at. Eaves height above ground of the building’s tallest part (O_KOTE − HOEHE_DGM).
Open API232 buildings sizedLive
2026-11-06
CC BY 4.0
Road noise (EU Environmental Noise Directive, Lden)
European Environment Agency
Open APIscoringLive
2026-11-06
EEA standard re-use policy (attribution)
Leerstandsmelder.de — public reports of empty buildings
Leerstandsmelder (Gängeviertel e.V., Hamburg)
Shown while we ask Leerstandsmelder for permission. Reports since 2016 only, with the address, the month reported and a link to each entry; not checked by EHC. Each point says when a report has since been marked demolished, lived in, in interim use or rebuilt on Leerstandsmelder, and the owner type the reporter gave (private owners are never named).
Asking for permission166Live
2026-11-06
Credited to Leerstandsmelder.de; asking for permission
Open-ended property funds: buildings they report partly empty
Open-ended real-estate funds (each point names its fund and report)
German and Austrian open-ended public property funds must list every property with its vacancy (or letting) rate in their annual and half-year reports. scripts/reuse/import-fund-reports.ts reads those lists; properties at 10 % vacancy or more are shown, those at 25 % or more count as evidence.
Open download11Live
2026-11-06
Published fund report (KAGB / KARBV property list), cited per point
Co-working spaces, department stores, banks, hotels and cinemas listed as permanently closed
Overture Maps Foundation (closure data: BrightQuery company records)
Places with operating_status "permanently_closed" in the monthly Overture release, read by scripts/reuse/import-overture-closures.ts and matched to the building they sit in. A closed business is usually one unit; names are shown only for companies, never for sole traders.
Open download101Live
2026-11-06
CDLA Permissive 2.0 (Overture Maps Foundation)
Land without current use and stalled construction, mapped from satellite imagery (Copernicus Urban Atlas 2006–2018)
European Environment Agency — Copernicus Land Monitoring Service
Urban Atlas class 13400 (brownfields, demolition sites and gaps in the built-up area, 0.25 ha and up) compared across the 2006, 2012 and 2018 editions, so each plot says how long it has stood unused; plus construction sites (13300) already under way in 2012, and 2012 construction sites left unused by 2018. Read from the EEA's open ArcGIS services, the same way in every radar city. The 2021 edition (Copernicus Data Space) drops plots built on since 2018 where scripts/reuse/import-urban-atlas-2021.ts has been run. Points are context, never evidence of vacancy.
Open API105Live
2026-11-06
Copernicus open data (© European Union, Copernicus Land Monitoring Service 2006–2021, EEA)
Stalled construction and buildings held by insolvent developers
EHC research (dated press and court sources per point)
Signa, Adler/Consus and other developer insolvencies since 2022 and stalled sites, each with its latest dated status (src/scripts/data/reuse/stalled-projects.json; news leads from scripts/reuse/mine-news.ts are reviewed before they join).
EHC research1Live
2026-11-06
Cited publisher per point
Church buildings the dioceses and regional churches plan to give up
Catholic dioceses and Protestant regional churches (their building plans), via EHC research
Buildings a church body’s published building plan or recent reporting names as to be given up, without church funding, for sale or lease, or profaned (src/scripts/data/reuse/church-plans.json and brussels-churches.json).
EHC research0Live
2026-11-06
Cited publisher per point
Named buildings and sites from EHC research (each with its own source)
European Housing Coop research
Includes the library’s public lighthouse conversions (src/scripts/data/reuse/lighthouses.json), shown under "Already converting" with a link to their library page.
EHC research22Live
2026-11-06
Facts cited to their publishers
Buildings named in the news (each with its article)
Local and national press, read by EHC
Buildings the news reports empty, for sale or to let, to be demolished or being converted (src/scripts/data/reuse/news-building-leads.json; rules in src/lib/reuse/news-layer.ts). A report that names a building already on the map is shown on its card instead of a second point; one an open source contradicted, or that says the building is in use, is left out. Not checked on site.
EHC research18Live
2026-11-06
Facts with a link to the article; the one-line summary is ours — no article text is republished
Year built and listing: OpenStreetMap building tags
OpenStreetMap contributors
start_date / construction_date and heritage / listed_status of the OpenStreetMap outline a record is matched to, where no register answers. Read with the outline match, not a separate query.
Open APIscoringLive
2026-11-06
ODbL 1.0 (© OpenStreetMap contributors)
Year built: building information (Stadt Wien)
Stadt Wien – data.wien.gv.at (Gebäudeinformation)
Datenquelle: Stadt Wien – data.wien.gv.at. The year (BAUJAHR, mostly for buildings in the heritage inventory) or else the construction period (L_BAUJ, e.g. 1884–1918) of the nearest address point within 15 m of a record (layer GEBAEUDEINFOOGD).
Open APIscoringLive
2026-11-06
CC BY 4.0
Probable era: estimated from a street photo (Panoramax, Mapillary, Google Street View)
Panoramax and Mapillary contributors; Google Street View (research use agreed with Google, 14 Oct 2026); estimate by EHC with a vision model
Where no register dates a building: its era read from a Panoramax or Mapillary photo looking at it — Google Street View only where no open photo answers (scripts/reuse/estimate-photo-eras.ts), only when the building is clearly visible and the model is confident, and only as “before 1945” or “1945 or later” — the split it got right for 89% of buildings with a register year in Amsterdam and Paris, and 89% from Street View pictures alone (photo-eras/calibration.json). An estimate: a sentence in the conversion check, never points.
Open APIscoringLive
2026-11-06
Open photos CC BY-SA 4.0 or Licence Ouverte 2.0 (per picture); Street View read for research only, never stored or shown; only the estimated era is published, never a photo
Office, administration and department-store buildings with 4+ storeys (city building inventory)
Stadt Wien – MA 19 Architektur und Stadtgestaltung (data.wien.gv.at)
Open API569Live
2026-11-06
CC BY 4.0 (Datenquelle: Stadt Wien – data.wien.gv.at)
Commercial yards and factory buildings with 3+ storeys (city building inventory)
Stadt Wien – MA 19 Architektur und Stadtgestaltung (data.wien.gv.at)
Open API175Live
2026-11-06
CC BY 4.0 (Datenquelle: Stadt Wien – data.wien.gv.at)
Transformation areas, building sites and extraction land (land-use mapping 2024)
Stadt Wien – MA 18 Stadtentwicklung und Stadtplanung (data.wien.gv.at)
Open API215Live
2026-11-06
CC BY 4.0 (Datenquelle: Stadt Wien – data.wien.gv.at)
Blocks mapped as offices and administration (land-use mapping 2024)
Stadt Wien – MA 18 Stadtentwicklung und Stadtplanung (data.wien.gv.at)
Open API294Used, not shown
2026-11-06
CC BY 4.0 (Datenquelle: Stadt Wien – data.wien.gv.at)
Zoning and building plans in procedure (from public exhibition on)
Stadt Wien – MA 21 Stadtteilplanung und Flächenwidmung (data.wien.gv.at)
Open API16Live
2026-11-06
CC BY 4.0 (Datenquelle: Stadt Wien – data.wien.gv.at)
Municipal housing estates (Gemeindebauten) owned by the City of Vienna
Stadt Wien – Wiener Wohnen (data.wien.gv.at)
Open API1,776Used, not shown
2026-11-06
CC BY 4.0 (Datenquelle: Stadt Wien – data.wien.gv.at)
Building freezes while a new zoning plan is prepared (§ 8(2) BO)
Stadt Wien — MA 21 (Stadtteilplanung und Flächenwidmung)
Open API7Live
2026-11-06
CC BY 4.0 (Datenquelle: Stadt Wien – data.wien.gv.at)
Building freezes for sites to be re-zoned (§ 8(6) BO)
Stadt Wien — MA 21 (Stadtteilplanung und Flächenwidmung)
Open API13Live
2026-11-06
CC BY 4.0 (Datenquelle: Stadt Wien – data.wien.gv.at)
Free shop, office and studio units in council estates (Wiener Wohnen, to let now)
Stadt Wien – Wiener Wohnen
Open download63Live
2026-11-06
No licence stated — Wiener Wohnen's public listing, used with credit to Stadt Wien – Wiener Wohnen (only address, type, size, floor and asking rent are kept); placed with the City's address points (Datenquelle: Stadt Wien – data.wien.gv.at, CC BY 4.0)
Whole buildings and commercial units in court-ordered auctions (Ediktsdatei, free public search)
Bundesministerium für Justiz — Ediktsdatei (edikte.justiz.gv.at)
Open download17Live
2026-11-06
Official court publications (Edikte) — no licence stated; official works carry no copyright in Austria (§ 7 UrhG); used with credit to the Bundesministerium für Justiz. Only the free public search list is read (no paid data licence, no detail pages)
Shops, offices and workshops offered on the Vienna Chamber of Commerce's free-premises database (Freie Lokale Wien)
Wirtschaftskammer Wien (WKO) — Freie Lokale (leerelokale.at / freielokale.at)
Open download34Live
2026-11-06
No licence stated — the WKO's public search list, used with credit to Wirtschaftskammer Wien; only address, floor area and the link are kept (no titles, agents or photos); placed with the City's address service (Datenquelle: Stadt Wien – data.wien.gv.at, CC BY 4.0)

What this radar cannot see yet

  • Vienna keeps no register of empty buildings or flats, and there is no vacancy levy, so there is no official 'empty now' layer as in Berlin; the register count of flats without a main residence exists only as district and grid statistics.
  • The city's building inventory gives building type and storeys for about 58,000 buildings in the dense city, not occupancy, floor area or owner — the office and factory points are candidates by type, not known vacancies.
  • Office vacancy is published only as a city-wide rate by brokers; no building- or district-level figures are open.
  • There is no open orthophoto WMS for Vienna (only tile services), so building cards lay a mosaic of its tiles under the marker.
  • Empty council flats (8,784 at the end of 2024) are published only as totals; Wiener Wohnen names no building except Wienerfeld West, so the map shows its free commercial units, not its empty flats.
  • Court auctions are read from the free Ediktsdatei search list only (no detail pages, no paid licence): a forced sale says nothing about vacancy, and the list changes weekly.

Know an empty building we have missed?

Open data cannot see everything. Tell us about a building in Vienna that stands empty or barely used; once we have checked it, it joins the map under “Reported by visitors (checked)”.

A phone held up to photograph an empty shopfront, with a map pin drawn above it

We publish the address, the kind of building and your description once we have checked it — never your email. Please do not name the people who own or live in a building.

Radars nearby

The other radars in the same country and the nearest beyond. All 149 cities in the atlas

The figure on each card: empty buildings on record.

Bratislava, Slovakia181empty buildings on recordBrno, Czechia207empty buildings on recordBudapest, Hungary403empty buildings on recordGraz, Austria57empty buildings on recordKošice, Slovakia43empty buildings on recordKraków, Poland355empty buildings on recordLjubljana, Slovenia48empty buildings on recordMunich, Germany332empty buildings on recordOstrava, Czechia42empty buildings on recordPrague, Czechia1,063empty buildings on recordWrocław, Poland684empty buildings on recordZagreb, Croatia212empty buildings on record