PWG Foundation

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Foundation for the preservation of affordable residential and commercial space in the city of Zurich

(PWG Foundation)
Pwg logo 2015.png
Legal form: public institution
Purpose: Maintain and create affordable residential and commercial space
Chair: Ueli Keller
Managing directors: Juerg Steiner
Consist: since September 5, 1990
Founder: Zurich city
Number of employees: 24 (approx. 19 full-time positions)
Seat: Zurich
Website: www.pwg.ch

The Foundation for the Preservation of Affordable Residential and Commercial Space of the City of Zurich (abbreviated: Stiftung PWG ) is a non-profit, public law foundation of the City of Zurich with its own legal personality. Its purpose is to maintain and create inexpensive residential and commercial space in the city of Zurich.

The PWG foundation manages around 1,850 apartments and 315 commercial spaces in 156 properties with a total value of around 800 million Swiss francs . The properties remain in the portfolio of the PWG Foundation (no speculation ). When buying a property, the resident tenants can stay on the same terms.

Foundation purpose

The activities of the PWG Foundation include the acquisition, rental, maintenance, renovation and construction of properties. The residential and commercial space that the foundation acquires or builds should be inexpensive.

The rent depends on the location and the property (old building, new building, comfort, etc.). The PWG Foundation does not want to provide very low rents for a limited population group, but rather more and more people looking for affordable rent. The rents of the PWG foundation are a third below the market average, as a study by the consulting firm Wüest & Partner in 2011 showed.

The area of ​​activity is limited to the city of Zurich.

history

A popular initiative led to the establishment of the PWG Foundation. It was a reaction of the Social Democratic Party (SP) to the heated property market, which narrowed the supply and caused rents to rise. The initiative was submitted on January 20, 1982 and required the establishment of a foundation with a capital of 50 million Swiss francs for the maintenance of affordable residential and commercial space. The acquired or newly built properties should be permanently removed from speculation.

On April 7, 1982, the local council referred the popular initiative to the city council for a report and application. Subsequently, at the request of the city council, the municipal council decided on January 30, 1985 to recommend that the voters reject the initiative. The Zurich electorate, however, accepted the initiative on June 9, 1985 with a 51.1% yes vote (50,331 yes against 48,178 no).

Thereupon there arose resistance to the result of the vote from among the bourgeoisie. On June 26, 1985, several voters appealed to the district council against the result of the vote and demanded that the referendum be annulled. In essence, they complained that the foundation was in contradiction to the municipal code, the cantonal regulations on the municipal budget, the freedom of trade and commerce and the law on the promotion of housing construction.

The district council approved the complaint, whereupon the SP of the city of Zurich came to the government council. After its expert had come to the same conclusion, the SP moved the case to the federal court . By judgment of December 14, 1988, this court reversed the decision of the government council and rejected the matter for a new decision. This was made on August 16, 1989, which meant that the result of the referendum of June 9, 1985 was valid.

After years of legal process, the municipal council decides on February 7, 1990 to establish and issue the foundation statute and elect the first 19 members of the foundation council on April 18, including President Andi Hoppler. The entry in the commercial register took place on September 5 of the same year.

The foundation has shown constant growth since it started operations in 1991. It has so far acquired up to eleven properties a year, mostly in competition with other potential buyers. Due to her social rental practice, she enjoys particular sympathy with property sellers, who are concerned that the existing leases continue to exist.

Andi Richiger became the first managing director at the end of 1991. At the beginning of 1996 Adrian Rehmann took over the management of the office. His 14 years of activity were characterized by an expansion of the property portfolio and the professionalization of the office. In mid-2010 he handed over the management to Jürg Steiner.

In February 2013, founding member Andi Hoppler announced his resignation as President of the PWG Foundation. The lawyer had performed this function since the foundation was established. The Zurich municipal council elected Ueli Keller as his successor. In July 2013, the ETH architect, who has extensive experience in non-profit housing construction and as a politician in the Zurich municipal and cantonal council, took office.

In the first quarter of a century it almost tripled the foundation's capital (CHF 147 million): At the end of 2015, the in-house administration managed 133 properties with 1,557 apartments and 299 commercial spaces (36,985 m 2 ). "The PWG foundation belongs to the city of Zurich like the ETH , the zoo , the Sechseläuten and the Luxemburgerli, " said City Councilor Daniel Leupi in his address on the occasion of the 2015 anniversary celebration.

Business activity

The foundation rents out its residential and commercial space according to ecological (occupancy regulations), economic (income and assets) and social (emergencies, neighborhood, etc.) criteria. "We strive for a social mix and an intact / good neighborhood is important to us," says the mission statement. The rule “number of residents” plus one equal to “number of rooms” applies as the minimum occupancy per apartment.

The PWG Foundation is not a cooperative because no share certificates have to be subscribed to rent a residential or commercial property. There is no waiting list. The homepage of the PWG Foundation and the city of Zurich's daily press provide information about vacant rental properties.

Larger construction projects

The foundation designs new buildings as well as conversion and renovation projects. Their mission statement says: "We build and renovate sustainably, without luxury, with environmentally friendly materials and operating systems." The PWG Foundation has always awarded its construction and planning contracts in architectural competitions.

  • Conversion of Nidelbadstrasse 6, 8: The PWG Foundation realized the first major construction project in 2000 when it converted the former Weber cigar factory in Wollishofen into residential and commercial space. In the commercial building from the 1930s, the PWG Foundation rents 23 apartments and 481 m 2 of commercial space .
  • New building at Förrlibuckstrasse 224, 226: Together with the young building cooperative Kraftwerk, the PWG foundation built a building complex with 100 apartments in Zurich-West . 20 of them belong to the PWG foundation. The architecture comes from Architektur Stücheli Architects with Bünzli Courvoisier .
  • Conversion of Albisriederstrasse 182, 184: In Albisrieden , too, new residential and commercial space was created in 2003 from a former factory according to plans by the architects architects Tina Arndt & Daniel Fleischmann . In order to exhaust the utilization reserves, the architects planned new structures with eye-catching aluminum cladding.
  • New building at Kanzleistrasse 72: In 2004, the PWG Foundation built a new building with five apartments and two commercial rooms in Kanzleistrasse in Aussersihl according to plans by the architects Hauenstein La Roche Schedler . The architects had already worked out a building project to fill the vacant lot. When the PWG Foundation acquired the plot in 1999, it took over and carried out the construction project.
  • New building at Hohlstrasse 78: In 2005, the PWG Foundation inaugurated a highly regarded new building designed by the architect Peter Märkli at the bakery . Instead of the “Schönau” pub known as the “Alkitreff”, nine apartments for medium-sized families and a restaurant were built. In 2005, the building received the “City of Zurich Award for Good Buildings”.
  • New use of the Aussersihl Viaduct: The PWG Foundation's largest and most ambitious construction project to date is the new use of the Aussersihl Viaduct in the former industrial district of Kreis 5. Under the label " IM VIADUKT ", the PWG Foundation has been renting 46 shops and studios in the heritage-protected railway viaduct from the early days since September 2010 and restaurants, including the first market hall in the city of Zurich. In 2004 the city of Zurich and the SBB announced an architecture competition, which the EM2N office won. In the following year, the PWG Foundation came on board and developed the idea of ​​the market hall and other commercial uses IM VIADUKT, which enhance the district.
  • Renovation and extension of military road 115: In 2006 the PWG foundation acquired a property in need of renovation in district 4 at military road 115 with potential for expansion. After examining various scenarios, she announced an architecture competition among seven offices in 2009, which Darlington Meier Architects from Zurich won. The youth housing network was won as the anchor tenant and wanted to build a cluster apartment with 17 rooms in shared accommodation for teenagers and young adults in training at this central location . The large apartment, which extends over several floors, complements commercial uses that liven up the district. The ground-breaking ceremony for the renovation and the new building took place in May 2012, and the move was in September 2013.
  • Renewal and extension of Sihlweidstrasse 20, 22, 24: The properties at Sihlweidstrasse 20, 22, 24 in Leimbach will also be renewed and expanded . The existing houses from 1975 needed a new facade . In addition, thanks to utilization reserves, the current offer of 24 apartments can be increased by more than half. The Zurich office of Guignard & Saner Architects secured the architectural contract in a competition that was decided at the beginning of 2012. The building application was submitted in October 2012 . Objections delayed the construction project, but the groundbreaking ceremony finally took place in July 2016. The 14 new apartments were completed and occupied in summer 2018.
  • Replacement building at Waldmeisterweg 3, 5: The new building replaced a building with only 8 apartments that was at the end of its life. In November 2012, the PWG Foundation announced the architecture competition, which was won by the Lütjens Padmanabhan Architects . Uncertainties regarding the new building zone regulation (BZO) then delayed the planning. The groundbreaking ceremony took place at the beginning of April 2017. The 21 compact apartments were moved into in December 2018. The project was submitted for the 2019 Canton of Zurich Architecture Prize.
  • New building at Witikonerstrasse 517, 519, 521: In Witikon, the PWG Foundation has owned a plot of land since 2012 which, in addition to an apartment building, also had considerable reserves. These were used for a new building, with the existing apartment building remaining untouched. Baumberger & Stegmeier Architects from Zurich won the study contract advertised for this . The construction work lasted from the beginning of 2018 to summer 2020. As a result of the Covid 19 pandemic, the model apartment provided could not be viewed. Nevertheless, the 38 apartments were taken very quickly.
  • Replacement building at Freihofstrasse 32, 34: Even when the foundation acquired the buildings on Freihofstrasse in 1992, they were in a rather poor condition. In addition, the property allowed a much higher utilization. In 2015, an architecture competition for a replacement building was announced, which Edelaar Mosayebi Inderbitzin (EMI) Architects won. They designed a building with simple, very compact apartments for tenants who want to maintain a resource-saving lifestyle (minimal energy consumption, no car, small living space). Construction work began in November 2017, and the topping-out ceremony was celebrated a year later. The 33 apartments, for which 500 prospective tenants applied, were occupied in July and August 2019.
  • Replacement building Rautihalde 15, 19: The previous building from 1959 was in poor condition, and utilization reserves allowed a new building with almost 40% more living space. The PWG Foundation was looking for a suitable project in an architecture competition. The junior team Fiederling Habersang Architects won this at the end of 2015. In September 2018, the groundbreaking ceremony for the new building with 33 compact apartments took place. These will be available in September 2020.
  • Replacement building at Ackersteinstrasse 172: The building, built in 1933, is in a poor state of construction. In addition, utilization reserves allow more living space. Therefore an anonymous architecture competition was launched for a new building with at least 6 inexpensive apartments, which Scheidegger Keller Architects won.

Additional projects

On the occasion of its 20th anniversary, the PWG Foundation launched the “Writers in Residence” project together with the Literaturhaus Zürich in autumn 2010. Qualified scholarship holders can concentrate intensively on their writing in the city of Zurich for six months. After the project was initially limited to the end of 2015, it was extended until further notice.

On behalf of the City of Zurich, the PWG Foundation operated Aproprio, the advice center for renters in the City of Zurich who are willing to buy, from November 2012. 17 consultations took place in the first year of operation. In one case, the tenants were able to purchase their house as a cooperative. After the municipal council cut the 2014 annual tranche of CHF 150,000 for the advice center from the budget on December 11, 2013, operations had to be stopped at the end of 2013. A three-year pilot operation should have shown the needs and benefits of the advice center.

organization

Foundation Board (19 members) and president are from the local council of the city of Zurich to proportional party elected for a four year term. The five-person committee elected by the Board of Trustees runs the Foundation and its office together with the Managing Director. The office manages and develops the property portfolio of the PWG foundation. The foundation is obliged to submit the budget and annual accounts to the municipal council for approval.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Adi Kälin: "The City of Zurich wants to make house purchases even cheaper", in: Neue Zürcher Zeitung, February 24, 2012, p. 15. ( online access , April 5, 2013)
  2. ↑ See Neue Zürcher Zeitung: “Preservation of inexpensive residential and commercial space. Establishment of a foundation under public law ”, January 8, 1990, p. 24.
  3. ↑ See Neue Zürcher Zeitung: “Preservation of inexpensive residential and commercial space. Establishment of a foundation under public law ”, January 8, 1990, p. 24.
  4. ↑ Nicole Soland, Interview with Andi Hoppler: “Fair rent - and it pays”, in: PS, March 21, 2013, p. 10.
  5. ↑ http://markthalle.im-viadukt.ch/
  6. ^ Adi Kälin: How tenants become homeowners. In: nzz.ch. September 10, 2013, accessed October 14, 2018 .
  7. ↑ Adi Kälin: “Rasches Ende für ‹Aproprio›”, in: Neue Zürcher Zeitung, January 16, 2014, p. 17.