The former Globus publishing and print works at Höchstädtplatz 3 in Vienna’s Brigittenau district is being redeveloped for housing, while significant parts of the historic complex are retained. The site includes an eight-storey former office building and a red adjoining printworks building on Meldemannstraße. 1
The Globus publishing enterprise was founded in 1945 and served as the Communist Party of Austria’s party publisher from 1945 to 1993. 71 The complex was built in the 1950s; Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky was among the architects involved, and the buildings are associated with Vienna’s post-war architectural history. 116 A bust of former KPÖ chairman Johann Koplenig stands outside the site. 1
Property developers 6B47 Real Estate and Die Wohnkompanie acquired the block in 2017 and initially planned housing by 2021. 41 Redevelopment of the former Globus buildings became more complicated after the Federal Monuments Authority intervened during demolition work in 2018. The office building’s façade and staircases, along with the red printworks building, are protected; a connecting staircase was demolished in 2025. 1
The S+B Group later acquired the protected buildings from 6B47, which became insolvent. 1 Although earlier plans envisaged completion in 2023, the project had not been completed by the time of the article’s 2026 update. 1 Renovation work began around the end of 2025 or beginning of 2026, and the developer’s current target is to complete the conversion by 2028. 1 Plans call for approximately 160 apartments, with one to three rooms, in the two historic buildings. 1