Stadium project in Aarau: City council builds up pressure
For years, the planning for a new football stadium with a shell use in Aarau has been ongoing. The city council is now increasing the pressure on those involved in the project and is demanding compensation from the general contractor HRS for the planning costs, among other things.
In Janaur it became known that HRS Real Estate, Stadion Aarau AG and the City of Aarau an alternative project to the originally planned new stadium building want to realize. Instead of a mantle use with a shopping center, four high-rise buildings with residential and commercial use are now to be built.
Now the Aarau city council is speaking out again: In the last two months, the city council has intensively dealt with this "Plan B" for the new football stadium and has determined that there are risks that the city council can only influence to a limited extent, the city council reports. In particular, this concerns the political processes for the partial zone change, the design plan, the adjustment of the building permit for the new stadium and the building permits for the planned high-rise buildings.
According to its own information, the city council is prepared to accept the change to the previous project - but imposes conditions: for example, the general contractor HRS Real Estate is to assume the planning costs of around two million CHF incurred if no building permit is issued despite a legally binding design plan for the high-rise buildings. The city of Aarau also wants to secure itself with a contractual penalty in the event that HRS once again fails to commence construction of the stadium despite having received a building permit for the high-rise buildings. The city council further demands that the definitive purchase agreement be concluded by mid-August 2018 at the latest. The public circulation of the partial zone change stadium Torfeld South should be decided as soon as a corresponding commitment is received from all sides. This is to be done by March 20.
