Fribourg: Vita and Zurich AST plan retirement apartments
The two partners have acquired three smaller residential towers and want to realize an innovative residential and neighbourhood project.
In the city of Fribourg, the Vita Collective Foundation and the Zurich Investment Foundation are investing in a project for independent and assisted living for the elderly. To this end, the two partners recently acquired three smaller high-rise buildings from the 1970s with a total of 84 apartments. These are located at Chemin de Bethléem 3, 5 and 7 in the centrally located urban district of Beaumont-Vignettaz, which has a high proportion of senior households. The location is therefore ideal for offering suitable living space to older people, says Doris Neuhäusler, Project Manager for Strategic Real Estate Projects at the Vita Collective Foundation. According to her, two thirds of senior citizens in the city of Fribourg live in large apartments that may no longer meet their current needs. "If we succeed in creating suitable housing for these people in the medium term, senior citizens will live in fewer square meters in the future and larger apartments will become available for families in the neighborhood," she says.
The city of Fribourg is pursuing an active housing policy under the name "Lebensraum 2024" with a focus on senior and family households. There is great interest in working with private and institutional investors. "We are convinced that by purchasing these properties and gradually developing them further, we are making a valuable contribution to the city of Fribourg's vision of a mixed and sustainable multi-generational city," she says. The aim is to create "intergenerational apartments" for senior citizens and small families, as well as a range of everyday amenities on the first floor. Discussions with local stakeholders are underway. (aw)
