Alexander Lindhorst from the Lindhorst Group, a family-run group of companies with activities in the construction and real estate business areas, among others, and Osnabrück's Lord Mayor Katharina Pötter gave the go-ahead for the first demolitions on the site of the future "Johannishöfe – Quartier am Neumarkt Osnabrück" on Thursday, September 10, 2026. Alexander Lindhorst, who spent a lot of time on construction sites in his childhood and youth, did not miss the opportunity to take the first "bite" with the heavy equipment and thus start the dismantling of the old multi-storey car park on Große Rosenstraße in 49074 Osnabrück (Lower Saxony).
The special features of the project make it necessary to carefully and successively push ahead with inner-city development at the most central square in Osnabrück. This is intended to relieve the traffic junction, where other residents are also building in other places. The Lindhorst Group is therefore planning the necessary demolitions on the other construction sites for the beginning of 2027. The actual start of the renovation of the quarter can take place after receipt of the building permit, and implementation will take around three years from then on. The building application will be submitted in September 2026.
Mayor Katharina Pötter emphasizes the great importance for the city: "The start of the work marks a real turning point for Osnabrück's urban development. The years of patience at Neumarkt have finally come to an end. I am very pleased that we have succeeded in clearing the way for this future project in constructive cooperation with the Lindhorst Group. The Johannishöfe will give Neumarkt new energy, revitalize the city center and create valuable space for modern living and commerce."
Alexander Lindhorst from the Lindhorst Group is pleased that the first milestone of the project has now been reached: "From now on, the recently rather dreary area south of Osnabrück's Neumarkt will change noticeably bit by bit. This is the result of targeted work with a high level of commitment by all those involved. Thanks to the excellent and solution-oriented cooperation with the city administration as well as the positive expectations and commitment of Mayor Katharina Pötter, we are now able to quickly develop the face of Neumarkt in a positive direction. The art action with the 220-meter-long open-air gallery on the construction fence of our first construction site in July was a successful start. It has provided a lot of fresh paint here, from now on there will be some dust, we apologize for that. In return, we can promise a modern and sustainable urban quarter for Osnabrück and especially for the people who will live here in the future."
To the project Johannishöfe – Quartier am Neumarkt Osnabrück
The Lindhorst Group plans to develop up to 50,000 square metres of usable space for apartments on the approximately 1.54-hectare site between Neumarkt, Johannisstraße, Seminarstraße and Große Rosenstraße, including primarily serviced housing, housing for students and trainees and space for trade. The project falls within the scope of the development plan no. 651 – Südlich Neumarkt.
With their courtyard architecture as a closed perimeter block development, the Johannishöfe will fit into Osnabrück's city centre in a varied and harmonious way. The existing street spaces are to remain in their current course with an attractive new street design and take up and strengthen established path connections. The building ensemble will follow a high energy standard. Today, the project site is built up with predominantly vacant properties such as the Kachelhaus, the former Wöhrl/Ypso department store, the Ihr-Platz house, a multi-storey car park and other buildings.
