Retail is actually out of the question in achalaich. nevertheless, a car dealership is now being built in the weilheim part of the intermunicipal commercial area. BMW dealership widmann + winterholler relocates from the northern outskirts of town to the south of weilheim – and expands there.
Weilheim – widmann + winterholler acquired the site in achalaich two years ago: seen from the town, it is virtually the first plot on the weilheim side of the commercial area – located between the traffic circle there, the state road to peibenberg and the xylem site. However, the new construction plans only became public a few days ago, when the building committee of the weilheim city council had to decide on an exemption from the requirements of the development plan. For the planned "car dealership with workshop building", a new building 114 meters long and up to 25 meters wide, the specified wall height may be exceeded by half a meter to up to 8.50 meters, according to the unanimous decision. This is necessary "for fire protection and architectural reasons" – and completely unproblematic, as it was said.
Over 100 parking spaces
"we can’t say no to the requested change," said green representative alfred honisch at the building committee meeting. But it bothers him "colossally" that more than 100 parking spaces are planned on the east, south and west sides of the building. In general, according to weilheim’s 3. Mayor continues, "a car dealership on a greenfield site" in achalaich "was not originally planned in this way".
In fact, the city council explicitly excluded retail businesses when the development plan for the achalaich intermunicipal commercial area was adopted in 2017. A car dealership with a workshop is "a borderline case" in this respect, admits manfred stork, head of the building administration at weilheim town hall, in response to an inquiry from the "tagblatt" newspaper. However, the town council approved the project some time ago – with the argument that it was "more of a workshop than a sales outlet". honisch also confirms this fine distinction in an interview with our newspaper. But in the non-public meeting at the time, there was also "a certain antipathy against car dealerships in this area," says the green representative: "there weren’t just two or three people who were opposed to it."
There was a certain antipathy in the city council against car dealerships in this area.
3. Mayor alfred honisch (green)
For the car dealership widmann + winterholler, the relocation from the north to the south of weilheim is an important step into the future. The current location between the B2 and christophselhamerstrasse has to be approached from two sides and is "very cramped," explains managing director erwin winterholler in response to a question from this newspaper. According to him, the workshop area and the parking lot at the future domicile will be significantly larger, while the showroom will be somewhat smaller. Because the need for workshop space is also increasing in the context of the focus on electromobility, says winterholler, whose company currently has seven branches between dachau, kaufbeuren and farchant.
Up to 50 employees are planned
In weilheim, as an authorized BMW dealer, the company wants to "serve the entire region between lake starnberg and murnau in terms of repair shop technology," says the managing director. Construction is scheduled to start in achalaich this spring, and the bridge will be ready for use in the summer of 2023. The car dealership is investing around nine million euros in the new domicile. widmann + winterholler currently employs just under 40 people in weilheim, but this figure is set to rise to 50 in the new building. The currently necessary "alternative workshop" in pahl would then no longer be necessary if at the future weilheim location "everything could be bundled in one building and geared to the future".
Important: easy access and sufficient parking spaces
winterholler reports that his company had been looking for a suitable site for a new building for some time and was now very satisfied with the site in achalaich. "in the past, you always wanted to be clearly visible on a busy street in the city," explains the car dealership boss: "but that has changed. many customers visit the digital showroom first, and the location is of secondary importance."Today, it is important that the car dealership is "easily accessible and has sufficient parking spaces," continues winterholler. In contrast to the current location, which has around 70 parking spaces, the latter is guaranteed at the future domicile – with around 120 parking spaces.