Zurich: One step further in the development of the Hardturm site
HRS, Credit Suisse real estate investment vehicles and Allgemeine Baugenossenschaft Zürich have submitted the private design plan for the development on the Hardturm site. The building lease agreements were also notarized.
On the Hardturm site, the developer and total contractor HRS, together with real estate investment vehicles from Credit Suisse and Allgemeine Baugenossenschaft Zürich (ABZ), is planning to build a football stadium as well as 174 non-profit and 600 private apartments. The "Ensemble" project emerged as the winner of a competition in which the city of Zurich was looking for investors to build a privately financed football stadium, non-profit apartments and an investor project on the site.
The private design plan has now been submitted and the building rights contracts for the approximately 55,000 square meter site have been notarized. This marks an important milestone on the road to realization, according to the City of Zurich. The total investment for the non-profit housing development, the football stadium and the two high-rise buildings amounts to around CHF 570 million.
Stadium to be ready by 2021
The capacity of the new stadium is around 18,000 spectators (seated and standing) for national championship matches and around 16,000 spectators (seated only) for international matches. The stadium is planned as a pure football stadium, which will primarily be used for matches between the two Zurich football clubs GCZ and FCZ.
Outside of event days, which is around 320 days a year, the stadium and in particular its base area with restaurants and small stores will contribute to the revitalization of the district. Construction of the stadium will cost 105 million; the investor is HRS Investment AG. According to the client, the stadium is due to be completed in 2021, with the first matches scheduled for the 2021/22 season.
Two high-rise buildings and a cooperative project
Around 600 apartments (2.5- to 4.5-room rental apartments) in the mid-price segment will be built in the two high-rise buildings on construction site C. Studio and commercial space is planned in the basement floors up to the fourth floor, which will be rented out to small and medium-sized businesses in the catering, crafts, health, education and sports sectors.
The ABZ non-profit housing project on construction site A comprises 174 affordable apartments with living space for around 500 people. A self-supporting 4.5-room apartment with 94 square meters costs around CHF 1,650/month including ancillary costs. Around a third of the apartments are additionally subsidized. There are also plans for a double kindergarten, a community room and studio and commercial space on the first floor.
Reduced ground rent for investors
The City of Zurich is granting four building lease agreements with a term of 92 years to the ABZ housing cooperative (building site A), Stadion Züri AG (building site B), Credit Suisse Funds AG and the two real estate funds Siat and Interswiss (building site C1) as co-owners, and the Credit Suisse Investment Foundation (building site C2). The building lease holders pay the City of Zurich an annual building lease fee of around 1.2 million.
The construction of the stadium and the apartments will be privately financed; no municipal operating contribution to the stadium is planned. However, the city is charging a reduced building lease fee on construction site C to enable investors to build the stadium. According to the city, this results in a maximum recurring annual loss of revenue of 1.7 million.
The public presentation of the design plan will begin on September 16 and run until November 20, 2017. The city council is expected to submit the private design plan to the municipal council in summer 2018.
