Change commercial property to residential and commercial building

Hello! I hope I have landed in the right subforum :)

We are at the beginning of our house search and soon have the first viewings.
At the top of our list is a house that covers many of our wishes and apparently also fits within our financial framework.

The catch: the property is listed as a commercial property.
A former restaurant with a hall and an operator's apartment. It is located in a mixed-use area.
Since my partner and I also run two different businesses, the mixed-use area suits us well and we would continue to use part of the house for our businesses. However, due to the size of the house, we would like to build an additional apartment for later multi-generational living and rent it out until then (about 6-10 years). As far as I understand, this would not be possible with a commercial property, right?

What are the chances of changing a commercial property into a mixed residential and commercial building, and can one inquire in advance whether this is promising? Can one simply contact the building authority for questions, or do you need specific documents for a preliminary inquiry?

If conversion measures required for the change of use due to the different type of business and the expansion of living space are necessary, we could upgrade the required "public-law requirements" as part of the renovation - but I assume that the requirements for a restaurant must be comparable to those for living space or storage rooms? Unfortunately, I could not find any exact requirements; can someone give me a tip on where to find details?

Most of the commercial space would be used as storage for online shipping, which should be permitted in a mixed-use area. Additionally, we manufacture products on a small scale, but their production does not cause noise or similar disturbances (3D printer, laser cutter).

We already have a rough financing confirmation from a bank to estimate which houses are feasible. But is a commercial property evaluated differently?
If a positive statement regarding the possible change of use were given, it would not be binding and would ultimately only be applied for after purchase. Do banks take this into account?

We would be very grateful for answers & tips

Whether the broker designates the property as a commercial property wouldn't bother me. The change of use should be unproblematic, unless contradicted by the location of the rooms. The non-conforming use protection is no longer applicable, so also for possibly too closely adjacent recreational rooms. From a fire protection perspective, I also expect an assessment equating the year of change of use with the year of construction, so virtually as a new building now. Basically, I don't see the biggest obstacle present; that would have existed in mixed residential use in an industrial area, but you are talking about a mixed-use area (MI or MD?). Hopefully, it is not located on the edge of it – not that the municipality might get the idea to assign it to a neighboring industrial area or residential area (WA/WR).

How are the chances of converting a commercial property into a mixed-use residential and commercial building

Would anyone know how your municipality is economically positioned? Or how the building authority operates... Certainly not comparable to other municipalities. Or is it? Here, people are glad if there is any interest at all in older, larger properties, other than immediately preparing rooms for refugees there. You would probably have the green light here. But here is not there with you ;)

Many thanks for the answers!

The change of use should be unproblematic, unless opposed by the location of the rooms.

Thanks for the assessment, that's already reassuring to hear. We would take over the existing storage rooms and use them as storage, just for different goods. The new apartment would be created on the ground floor from the former dining rooms, restaurant kitchen, and bathrooms, and would be clearly separated spatially from commercial areas by the staircase corridor.

Basically, I don't see the biggest obstacle, that would have existed in the mixed residential use in a GE, but you’re talking about a mixed zone (MI or MD?). Hopefully, it’s not located at the edge – so that the municipality doesn’t get the idea to assign it to a neighboring GE or WA/WR.

According to the information I have been able to find online from the property map so far, the plot is in a "mixed building area" (M), but unfortunately, I can't tell if it's MI or MD. To the west, there are still three more plots before a residential building area (W) starts; in the other directions, there are significantly more plots. Hopefully, this classification will remain.

The use is indicated as "Type of use: Industrial and commercial area | Description: Trade and services," which would apply to our business. However, I suspect these are not the only "recorded" details, and we will need to submit more information for the change of use regarding the type of business.

Does anyone know how your municipality is doing economically? Or how the building authority operates...

Unfortunately, we are moving from quite far away, so I don’t have much information yet. The weekend is for the viewing first; we’ll see what we can find out there. If the property really fits as well as it looks on paper, we will then contact the building authority and ask. The property is relatively cheap for the size, but quite a bit of renovation will be necessary.

You can report back and then present the project here when you have bought it :)

According to the information I have been able to glean online so far from the property map, the plot is located in a "mixed building area" (M), but unfortunately I cannot tell here whether it is MI or MD. To the west, there are three more plots before a residential building area (W) begins; in the other directions, there are significantly more plots. So hopefully the classification will remain as is.

For usage, "Type of use: industrial and commercial area | Description: trade and services" is given, which would apply to our commercial operations. However, I suspect these are not the only "stored" details and we will need to submit more specifics for the change of use of the type of commercial activity.

Your description now sounds as if it were taken from no development plan but merely a land use plan, and the area is neither within the scope of a development plan for a WR/WA nor for an MI/MD, but rather an "unplanned inner area" (§34). You may therefore have looked at the "wrong" document, and there is a development plan (which, if you are unlucky, may no longer wish to further develop the mixed use), or there may be no development plan at all and none intended to be created. Best ask first at the economic development office of the district whether they have a "single point of contact": if yes, they can understand the term (noting that this means the economic development office, not necessarily the main switchboard of the district administration); if no, then good luck dealing with the various differing knowledge and beliefs of the many officials to be asked.