Federal Court rejects appeals against Hardturm development
The long-planned development on Zurich's Hardturm site could soon go ahead. The Federal Court has dismissed two appeals in connection with the design plan.
With the Ensemble project, HRS Real Estate, Credit Suisse, and Allgemeine Baugenossenschaft Zürich (ABZ) plan to build a soccer stadium as well as two high-rise buildings and a cooperative housing development on the 55,000-square-meter Hardturm site. In total, more than 750 apartments are to be built. The voters of the city of Zurich approved the corresponding design plan in September 2020 with just under 60 percent in favor.
However, there were two appeals against the vote, which delayed further planning. One appeal was lodged in the run-up to the vote, another afterwards. They concerned, on the one hand, the security concept for the stadium and, on the other, the school space planned in one of the residential towers.
The two lower courts - the District Council and the Zurich Administrative Court - rejected the appeals. Now the Federal Court has also dismissed the two voting appeals against the Administrative Court's rulings. This means that an important prerequisite has been met for the canton to approve the design plan. The design plan forms the legal basis for the overall Ensemble project.
"After the clear approval at the ballot box, the delay caused by the appeal was all the more annoying. Now the building owner can finally continue planning," says the responsible city councilor André Odermatt, head of the building construction department. (ah)
