Decision reached on the Schwerin Sports and Convention Hall: a Second-Generation PPP Model
In future the Olympic center with the large sports and convention hall in the State capital of Schwerin will be redeveloped and operated by a private investor, the construction company HEITKAMP Development GmbH. This resolution was passed by the state capital city council on 12 March 2007 with only one dissenting vote. The municipal authorities have thereby implemented a new kind of PPP project unique in Germany. The private investor will take over not only the planning and construction of the sports facilities and the in-residence training center for approx. €23 million, but also the financing, operation and even the marketing risks and opportunities in a PPP project. The great achievement of this project, and at the same time of Lord Mayor Norbert Claussen, is that the municipal authorities will not be spending any more money than in previous years. "For the same annual costs as before, the state capital will be getting a redeveloped sports and convention hall, redeveloped and new sports facilities and a new in-residence sports training center," announced Dr. Ute Jasper, attorney and partner at Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek, who designed this project and saw it through.
The PPP project means not only further promotion for professional sport in the state capital of Schwerin, but at the same time the creation of an attractive venue for the entire region by the redevelopment of the sports and convention hall. The municipality will assign to the investor all the functions that can be better dealt with by the private sector. Together with the Ostseehalle Kiel, HEITKAMP will raise the marketing to a professional level. Jasper explains the special nature of this PPP project "Here for the first time the private partner will bear the risk of capacity utilization for a multifunctional center within the scope of a PPP project.” Dr. Ute Jasper has provided consulting on all legal issues for the state capital of Schwerin prior to the start of and throughout the Europe-wide contract awarding procedure.