Zurich: Popular initiative for congress centre?

Next week, the Zurich City Council will discuss the development of the Carpark site and then deal with a motion that would like to see a "neighborhood-compatible development" for the site. According to the motion, affordable apartments and commercial space are to be built on the approximately 7,000 square meter inner-city site.

The proponents of an international congress center on the Carpark are not admitting defeat, however. The IG Kongress-Stadt Zürich, in which business and tourism representatives as well as the university and ETH are involved, is examining the possibility of an international congress center on the car park, according to a report by the NZZ the launch of a popular initiative.

According to the newspaper report, a change in the building and zoning code (BZO) would be conceivable. The parking lot would have to be reclassified from the neighborhood preservation zone to a center zone and also added to high-rise area 2, where buildings up to 80 meters high are possible. Today, the parking lot is in high-rise zone 3, where a height restriction of 40 meters applies. However, other ideas were also heard from the IG, according to the NZZ. One could, by popular initiative, insert an article of purpose into the municipal code requiring a convention center on the site.

Proponents of the convention center believe the location right next to the main train station is too valuable for another cooperative housing development, of which there are already an above-average number in District 5, writes the NZZ. With the real estate company Mobimo, an investor would also be ready. The business plan presented by Mobimo a few months ago envisages a congress center for events with up to 3,000 participants. To finance the congress infrastructure, a four-star and a two-star hotel are to be built on the site. The first floors of the convention center are to be reserved for public uses.