Zurich: SP wants to cancel residential towers for Hardturm stadium
According to media reports, the SP wants to cancel the residential towers in the Zurich Hardturm stadium project. The party fears that the entire construction project will otherwise be derailed by appeals.
As first reported by the Tages-AnzeigerThe SP has proposed that the two 137-metre-high towers should not be built in order to prevent the project from failing due to appeals. A citizens' initiative from Höngg wants to take legal action to prevent the high-rise buildings and has already announced that it will take the matter to the Federal Supreme Court.
Without the residential towers, however, the cross-financing for the stadium would no longer apply: According to earlier information, around 600 apartments in the mid-price segment are planned in the two high-rise buildings, iStudio and commercial space is planned for the basement floors up to the fourth floor. The city will only charge a reduced building lease fee for construction site C, where the towers are to be built. This is to enable the investors - Credit Suisse investment vehicles - to build the stadium. According to the city, this will result in a maximum annual revenue foregone of CHF 1.7 million. Without cross-financing from the high-rise residential buildings, the Tages-Anzeiger, the city would have to raise 85 million for the station.
In the opinion of the SP, the deal with Credit Suisse is not worthwhile, the newspaper continues. The party wants to hand over the plot to a cooperative under building rights. This would save the city around one billion over 92 years. The city parliament is currently discussing the stadium project. It is still unclear whether the SP's motion will be passed. Should it fail, the SP is considering a popular initiative, according to the newspaper report.
