UBS Investment Foundation plans new residential development in Rapperswil-Jona

The UBS Investment Foundation owns the apartment buildings at Eichfeldstrasse 25, 27, 29 and 31, as well as Eichwiesstrasse 1 and 3. The residential buildings were constructed in the early 1970s and no longer meet today's standards. The Eichfeld I development plan on which they were based at the time also meets "neither the spatial planning nor the urban development requirements of the present day," the municipality of Rapperswil-Jona writes in a statement.

The architectural firm Erwin Werder from Baden, together with the landscape architects Rotzler Krebs Partner and the municipal townscape commission, has drawn up a guideline project that forms the basis for a new development plan. The project includes three four-story flat-roof buildings with more than 50 new apartments, as well as a nursery and underground parking.A broad mix of apartments from 2½- to 4½-room apartments is planned. The existing six-story apartment building on the northeast corner of the site contains another 18 apartments.

According to the municipality of Rapperswil-Jona, the guideline project is convincing due to the "reorganization of the site in that future replacement buildings and the existing six-story residential building enclose a precisely shaped courtyard space - a garden courtyard proper. The garden courtyard includes path areas, privately and communally used recreational areas, planting cushions, parking for bicycles and small play areas. In addition, the ground-floor apartments will have access to a small, privately usable outdoor area.

The development plan and the guideline project are still available for public inspection until June 15, 2016. (ah)