Zurich: First lease in "Freilager" completed
Intercity Zürich AG, which was responsible for marketing and initial leasing, has handed over the "Freilager" neighborhood project with a total of 796 rental apartments to the owner, Zürcher Freilager AG.
According to Intercity Zurich, almost 97 percent of the apartments are now rented. The new neighborhood in Albisrieden, which was built on the site of the former bonded warehouse, also has almost 200 rooms for student housing as well as commercial space. "Freilager Zurich is thus de facto fully leased. The few percentages correspond to a very low vacancy rate shortly after completion of a major project," explains Michael Blaser, head of residential marketing at Intercity Zurich. The few vacant apartments belong to the upscale segment, Blaser says. The additional house with the rooms for students will be managed directly by the Woko housing cooperative as a student residence.
The marketing of Freilager Zürich, which was launched at the beginning of 2015, turned out to be a challenge, explains Blaser. As the sole marketer, Intercity Zürich AG had the task of renting out the approximately 800 apartments for various target groups. For this purpose, the marketing had to be segmented, and so the site was already divided into different areas in the concept phase, which were advertised individually: the Rauti towers, the longhouses, Marktgasse and Südhof. In addition, virtual tours were offered for the first time using interactive 3D visualization and virtual reality technology. Virtual tours are still available at www.freilager-zuerich.ch/3d-rundgang possible.
Zürcher Freilager AG is a company specializing in real estate investments and developments. In addition to Freilager Albisrieden, its portfolio also includes Embraport in Embrach (ZH) and a logistics property in Münchenstein (BL). It was acquired by AXA Capsus AG (AXA Leben AG) by absorption merger in April 2017.
