Competition for Zurich Hardturm site decided
The city of Zurich is making a new attempt to realize a soccer stadium on the Hardturm site after all. The competition for the development of the city-owned site has been decided. HRS Investment AG and real estate investment vehicles of Credit Suisse were able to prevail against four competitors with their Ensemble project.
Views of the planned stadium project including peripheral buildings (visualizations © Nightnurse Images, Zurich, im order of HRS Real Estate AG, Boltshauser Architekten, pool Architekten and Caruso St John Architekten)
According to the competition jury, the planned stadium is "very simple, reduced and yet ingeniously independent."
The HRS and CS plans call for the construction of a soccer stadium for 18,500 spectators, as well as two 137-meter-high residential and commercial towers with about 66,000 square meters of main usable space, and non-profit housing. The team had submitted a detailed and well thought-out business plan, explained City Councilor Daniel Leupi. The competition jury was also convinced that the stadium was "very simple, reduced and yet ingeniously independent." Its façade is to consist of glass blocks, which, when fitted with LED elements, will create a playable screen.
CHF 550 million major project in the planning stage
The estimated investment volume for the major project is reportedly around CHF 550 million. The city of Zurich, which has no stake in the stadium's construction or operating costs, is making the approximately 55,000-square-meter site available under a long-term building lease; the building lease rent has so far been estimated at between CHF 1.1 million and CHF 1.4 million. The planned soccer stadium will be owned by an already established stadium ownership company Stadion Züri AG, which will lease it on a turnkey basis to a stadium operating company to be established by GC and FCZ. The two Zurich soccer clubs had no voting rights but are reportedly behind the winning project.
Concrete start of construction still unclear
The two residential and commercial towers, which are being built by HRS and then acquired by CS investment vehicles, are to be located in the west of the site; the planned non-profit housing (173 units, a kindergarten) is to be built in cooperation with the Allgemeine Baugenossenschaft Zürich (ABZ) in the east of the site.
The winning team will now further develop the project until it is ready for approval, draw up a private design plan and negotiate the building lease agreements with the city. After that, the design plan and building lease agreements will be submitted to the municipal council in about 24 months. In addition, the project will probably go to the ballot box. In the last 20 years, several stadium projects have already failed; most recently, voters in Zurich narrowly rejected a CHF 216 million stadium at the city's expense. (bw)