Rapperswil-Jona: City drops Sinoswiss project
A flagship project for an "innovation park" with Chinese investors already seemed to be in the bag. There was legal resistance and now the city is backing away from the plans.
The purchase agreement for a plot of land in Rapperswil-Jona between the city and the Chinese investors of Sinoswiss has fallen through. The city justifies this in a press release by stating that deadlines were not met. As no purchase has been made, no building permit will be issued for the Sinoswiss "Innovation Center", according to the statement. The initiators from the Far East had submitted the building application for the planned property in the fall (IB reported).
City should have gone to federal court
Ever since the plans to sell the 2,000 sqm property in the Schachen area became known, critics of the project have complained that the sale should have been subject to an optional referendum. The city council was of the opinion that the official market value of around CHF 1.4 million was decisive for the issue. However, the actual purchase price was significantly higher than the CHF 2 million limit that applies to referendums. In its decision of July 4, the Administrative Court referred the issue back to the lower court for reassessment. The ruling stated that the basis for determining the estimated value of the property was insufficient and that an independent estimate of the objective market value should be made. The City Council has announced that it does not agree with the Administrative Court's reasoning, but does not intend to appeal to the Federal Supreme Court.
In the meantime, the canton has forbidden the city to go ahead with the sale under these unclear circumstances. However, Sinowiss exerted pressure and demanded that the building permit be granted. The city council then commissioned a legal review of the purchase agreement. This revealed that various deadlines had not been met. In the opinion of the city council, the purchase agreement is now invalid. However, it remains to be seen whether Sinoswiss will be satisfied with the decision.
The plans for the "Innovation Center" were publicly available between November 23 and December 6. They included a building with 5,000 square meters of office and coworking space (IB reported). (aw)
