Zurich: City should examine new use for car parking lot
A motion from Zurich's city council wants to examine a new use for the car parking lot. The square next to the main train station is one of the last large inner-city areas that has not yet been built over.
By means of a motion, the city council has been instructed by ten councillors to submit a proposal to the city council for a project planning loan for the parking lot. The motions are based on the fact that the car park area is an important urban development site with great development potential. The motion explicitly mentions two general conditions: First, the planning should take place in a participatory process, and second, a convention center at this location is ruled out. This would mean the end for Mobimo's plans: In November 2016, the real estate company had submitted a business plan for a convention center with a hotel on the car parking lot.
City Council: Examine alternative locations first
As the city council writes in a statement, it shares the opinion of the undersigned that the approximately 7,000 sqm site is an important location with development potential. At the same time, however, he does not consider it imperative that the last large inner-city sites - including the parking lot - be built over by the current generation. Due to the urgent need for repairs, it would not be expedient to submit a proposal for a comprehensive development in parallel. It would make sense to first clarify whether there are alternative locations for the parking lot in an adequate location.
However, the city council added that it was prepared to examine various options for use. For this reason, it rejects the motion, but is prepared to accept the request as a postulate.
The parking lot is to be upgraded from February 2018 in order to be ready for use for another ten years. The city council intends to submit a corresponding object credit to the municipal council shortly.
