immo!nvest – Die Plattform für Standorte und Immobilien

Tag: Baugesuch

  • New plans for technology centre in Laufenburg

    New plans for technology centre in Laufenburg

    The FlexBase Group has decided to withdraw its planning application for a technology centre on the former Swissgrid site in Laufenburg. According to a press release, a total of around 350 jobs are to be created there. FlexBase expects to employ 100 to 150 people by the end of 2027 alone.

    The centrepiece of the centre, which is to be built in collaboration with universities and companies, will be one of the largest large-scale battery storage facilities in the world with a capacity of at least 500 megawatts. It is to be built in a strategically favourable location directly next to the world’s largest electricity grid, the Laufenburg Star, and will contribute to the security of supply in Switzerland and parts of Europe. The technology centre will also house a data centre for artificial intelligence and a wind tunnel for research and development in the sports industry.

    According to the press release, the company is now submitting an updated planning application. According to the information, it now respects the maximum height defined in the current building and utilisation regulations, “which is sufficient for the start of construction”. However, in view of the significance of the project, the applicant is requesting an increase in the permitted building height to 30 metres. In consultation with the Laufenburg town council, a partial amendment to the existing building and utilisation regulations for this construction perimeter, coordinated with the overall revision, has already been initiated.

    “Despite the necessary step of updating our planning application, we remain confident that we will be able to realise our project within the planned timeframe,” says CEO and co-founder Marcel Aumer. He assumes that the overall revision will take into account the importance of such forward-looking projects for the region.

  • Urma AG builds second company site in Mägenwil

    Urma AG builds second company site in Mägenwil

    Urma AG has submitted a planning application for a second company site. Like the Rupperswil headquarters, it is located in the canton of Aargau. According to a press release from the company, which specialises in machine tools and additive manufacturing (3D printing), a new Experience Centre is to be built in Mägenwil by summer 2025. The second Swiss headquarters has been developed for 30 employees, who will be relocated from Rupperswil to Mägenwil or newly created, the press release continues. The family business has been operating globally for over 60 years with around 130 employees.

    The new Experience Centre, with offices and a spacious exhibition area for CNC machines, 3D printers, post-processing machines and all other machining products, is to be built on the 3,600 square metre site in the “Büntli” industrial and commercial zone in Mägenwil by summer 2025. In the exhibition area, customers will have the opportunity to view a variety of machines and gain a comprehensive insight into additive manufacturing along the entire production chain, according to the company press release.

    “The canton of Aargau lies in the heart of Switzerland’s strongest economic region and is located on the main transport axes between the economic centres of Basel, Bern and Zurich. In addition to the good accessibility, it is important to us that the two company headquarters are close to each other – Mägenwil is therefore perfectly suited for URMA,” Urs W. Berner, Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of Urma AG, is quoted as saying.

    The aim is to create the largest competence centre for industrial 3D printing in Switzerland. The new building will give customers a “unique insight into industrial innovations”, Berner continued.

  • New housing construction lags behind population growth

    New housing construction lags behind population growth

    Across Switzerland, around a quarter less new residential space is being built than a few years ago. In view of the rising population, there is a threat of an undersupply of urgently needed new residential construction, according to a media release from Zürcher Kantonalbank(ZKB) on the new study of its real estate research.

    The study cites a declining number of building applications as reasons for the slowdown in construction activity. On average, it takes 140 days from planning application to approval in the country, which corresponds to an increase of 67 percent compared to 2010. Those who want to build wait the longest in densely populated regions. The time span for the canton of Zurich, for example, is given as almost 200 days, which corresponds to an increase of 136 percent compared to the year of comparison and a waiting time of almost one year. The negative front-runner is the canton of Geneva, where 500 days pass before a housing project is approved.

    Furthermore, high construction requirements make it difficult to create new housing quickly. Appeals also contribute to the slowdown in the new construction sector. The real estate research is based on a study of actually realised new housing projects, according to which every tenth approved housing project was not realised in 2010 and the rental housing market is lacking 4000 flats per year.

    In the latest issue of Immobilien aktuell, the Zürcher Kantonalbank provides data-based facts and analyses on the topic of housing shortage. In a further article, new housing construction is compared to a hurdle race.

  • Surselva gets a test facility for wind and solar energy

    Surselva gets a test facility for wind and solar energy

    The Federal Office for Armaments wants to set up one of the first small wind and solar systems in Switzerland in the Alpine region next to the middle station of the former military transport cableway above Medel, armasuisse informs in a press release . The test system is intended to test “the suitability of a hybrid system for generating sustainable energy in alpine terrain”, it says there.armasuisse Immobilien has now submitted a corresponding planning application. It can be viewed from August 29th to September 28th at the Municipality of Medel.

    The planned small wind turbine with bifacial solar panels is scheduled to go into test operation next autumn. Armasuisse expects a yield of 27 megawatt hours per year for the wind turbine, for the wind flower the estimated annual yield is 35 megawatt hours. Based on the evaluations of the actual results planned for the fourth quarter of 2024, armasuisse wants to decide whether a total of nine hybrid systems will be installed in the La Stadrea area in Surselva. The location offers "good conditions both in terms of existing and no longer used infrastructure, as well as in terms of wind conditions and solar radiation," writes the Federal Office.

  • Litterna: Agreement finally reached

    Litterna: Agreement finally reached

    The people of Visper associate numerous memories with the Litterna Hall, built in 1978, as the hall was the home ground of EHC Visp from 1979 to 2019. Before the hall was demolished, the farewell was duly celebrated with a party in autumn 2019 – and at the same time the new ice sports and event hall, the Lonza Arena, was inaugurated. There has been a legally binding district plan for the Litterna site since 2018, which provides for several mixed-use residential and commercial buildings. Accordingly, the client Swiss Prime Investment Foundation planned to start construction work on the four buildings in total after the demolition of the hall in autumn 2020. However, a resident's objection to the planning application delayed the approval process. Nevertheless, the building application was approved by the Visper municipal council in December 2020, and the objection was rejected: the municipality argued that the buildings and facilities would correspond to the purpose and the district plan. The objector took his complaint further and reached the State Council in spring 2021. The Valais government also rejected the appeal against the municipality's decision, whereupon the objector went to the cantonal court as the next instance. However, before the Valais judiciary could make a further decision, the objectors and the client reached an agreement.

    The construction work on the approximately 15,700 m2 area, which is an important building block due to its location along the railway line and the proximity to the public transport hubs
    nothing stands in the way of the overarching settlement development of Visp. The four buildings will contain 138 rental apartments, commercial premises on the ground floors, a day-care center and a retail store. The first apartments should not be ready for occupancy until autumn 2023 at the earliest. The client Swiss Prime Investment Foundation is investing around 70 million Swiss francs in the Visper location. Total contractor is Eiffage Suisse, the construction work is being carried out by the Volken Group.