CHF 5.27 million to renovate the old-town houses on Torgasse

The city executive (Stadtrat) has approved CHF 5.27 million to renovate the city-owned houses at Torgasse 9 and 11 in the Oberdorf area near Bellevue, in the old town (Kreis 1). Parts of the houses date back to the 13th century; heritage experts consider them valuable (denkmalpflegerisch wertvoll), but according to the city they are in poor structural and energy condition. Some flats have no kitchen or bathroom of their own, and they are heated by individual gas stoves.

What changes

• Heating: both houses get a shared biogas heating system in the attic of Torgasse 11. All building services are replaced.
• Shell: facade repaired and repainted, all windows replaced, roofs insulated; the old tiles are reused.
• Torgasse 9: the restaurant space goes. According to the city, the renovation makes the already tight space even smaller, so a restaurant could not be run profitably. The ground floor becomes a commercial unit and the first floor housing. The flats above are merged into one large flat.
• Torgasse 11: the studio and shop units are renovated and let again; two small flats become one 3-room flat.

For tenants

The work can only be done in empty buildings. The city has therefore let flats that became vacant on fixed-term leases, and is helping the remaining tenants find a follow-on or temporary home.