Former real estate investor René Benko has been in pre-trial detention since January 2025. Around 3'000 creditors have filed claims exceeding 40 billion euro against him. Following the collapse of Benko's Signa Group, its Munich properties – including the Alte Akademie, the Oberpollinger department store and the Karstadt site near the city's main railway station – have gradually been sold or restructured.

The villa in Innsbruck is owned by the Laura Private Foundation, which was established by Benko. The foundation, in turn, controls around 50 subsidiaries holding approximately 100 properties across Germany, Austria and Italy.

Stefan Geiler, the Innsbruck-based lawyer acting as insolvency administrator for the Laura Private Foundation, has now confirmed plans to explore a new use for the former family residence.

«The property is simply unsuitable for private use under normal circumstances. It makes sense to examine whether redesignating it as a hotel would be beneficial,» Geiler wrote in a confidential report to creditors. He confirmed the contents of the report to the Tiroler Zeitung newspaper.

Annual Costs of 500,000 euro

«We are evaluating various options and potential realisation concepts,» Geiler said.

According to the report, selling the luxury property – valued at EUR 60 million – as a private residence is unlikely to be feasible without significant discounts.

«There is currently no realistic prospect of recovering anything close to the documented construction costs through a sale,» Geiler wrote.

He therefore intends to discuss the possibility of rezoning the property for hotel use with the City of Innsbruck before working with a real estate advisory firm on a redevelopment strategy.

Geiler estimates annual operating costs at around 500,000 euro if the property were fully operational. At present, only essential maintenance is being carried out, reducing monthly costs to approximately 18,000 euro.

Former Luxury Hotel Site

The property in the Innsbruck district of Igls previously housed a hotel with 18 rooms, several suites and a luxury apartment measuring around 200 square metres.

Benko acquired the former Schlosshotel Igls for 11,1 million euro in May 2016 before demolishing it to build an extravagant private residence.

Among the villa's most striking features is a full-scale replica of Capri's famous Blue Grotto in the basement. According to Austrian news outlet 5min.at, the installation alone cost around EUR 2 million. The property also reportedly includes an entertainment system costing 600,000 euro, while the silver cutlery alone is said to have cost more than 300,000 euro.

According to Heute.at, the villa's ultra-luxurious specifications and its location make it well suited for conversion into a hotel. Nearby are the Park Igls health resort and the Lanserhof medical wellness retreat, both renowned for high-end health and wellness programmes.

An exclusive wellness hotel «would fit seamlessly into the neighbourhood,» the publication concluded.