Two-thirds of cheap apartments were not enough for red-green in the large-scale Neugasse project. But the SP and the Greens were defeated in the city parliament: the AL voted with the bourgeois.
The Neugasse project: 375 apartments are to be built in a prime location.
A monster is rising in front of the exhibition center in Zurich Oerlikon. The AL brought an inflatable octopus. It is intended to symbolize the Europaallee and the SBB, which is hungry for returns. The alternatives have brought their monster out of the basement because the city parliament is arguing this Wednesday about a large real estate project in district 5 called Neugasse. Red-Green insists on maximum demands there, two-thirds cheap apartments are not enough for her. Tenor: The SBB owe the city something because they have not built a single non-profit dwelling on Europaallee and, historically speaking, their land was once cheaply obtained from the public sector.
The new city district is to be built on a track area of the SBB that is no longer needed, and there is a contract with the city council. 125 of the 375 apartments would be non-profit, and the rents for another 125 would be “limited in terms of price”.
“I would blush”
The red-green attitude is met with incomprehension by Hans Dellenbach (FDP), who speaks of the “total collapse” of left-wing housing policy. Isabel Garcia (GLP) has “difficulty staying decent in this debate”. Building manager André Odermatt (SP) says to his party that they are on the verge of sinking a flagship project. “I don’t know how to explain that to the public. I would blush.”
The basic stance on the left is clear. But when it comes to risking SBB’s withdrawal from the project, cracks appear in the red-green camp. In the end, the SP and the Greens are subject to an extraordinary right-centre alliance – including AL.
Specifically, this evening is about giving the SBB a signal as to whether they can expect a political majority in the city parliament or not. Parliament decides whether it wants to “approve” the Neugasse master plan. The Greens have a clear stance: They are against the project and hope for a better one.
The SP also refuses to approve the deal between SBB and the city council, but brings the proposal of 40 instead of 30 percent non-profit housing into play. SP local councilor Anjushka Früh sells this as a compromise. The AL is critical of the SP proposal. Because the SBB would have drawn the 30 percent non-profit as a red line. The “compromise” would deal the deathblow to the project.
The AL also adheres to the maximum requirement in principle. But she sees the deal as a fallback position that shouldn’t be given up. “We don’t want to bury this contract unnecessarily,” says Patrik Maillard (AL). At the parliamentary level, he is anyway the maximum of what can be achieved compared to the SBB.
The AL, on the other hand, hopes to get movement from a popular initiative. Their demand: the city should buy the area from the SBB and only build non-profit apartments. It is true that the SBB cannot be forced to sell, which is why the city council wanted to declare the request invalid. But the Council decides the opposite on Wednesday. AL founder Niklaus Scherr speaks in the council for the initiative committee. He emphasizes the effect of the initiative: “Nobody believes that the SBB will simply dismiss a referendum.”
The weights are shifting
The SBB had hoped for a clear signal from the city parliament. It’s a mixed one. On the one hand, the contract between the city and SBB remains valid, on the other hand, the popular initiative is also declared valid. The bottom line is that the weighting may have shifted in favor of the Neugasse project. Because the initiative is fraught with question marks. You may be legally challenged. It is also quite conceivable that the initiators withdraw their request. Niklaus Scherr says in the council that he personally finds the deal “not at all uninteresting”. And even with an urn yes, the implementation should remain unclear.
Should there be an election, the current project would be something like a counter-proposal to the initiative. Then voters would have the choice between a maximum demand with uncertain effect and a city council proposal that promises 250 cheap apartments. From the point of view of the left-wing parties, this would be a tricky starting point.