NRW.BANK / Kronenstraße residential project in Bochum-Ehrenfeld - Sustainable housing concept for all generations

Modern housing concepts promote social cohesion among residents. The cooperative building in Kronenstraße, Bochum-Ehrenfeld, is a good example. Since summer 2020, several generations have been living under one roof here. The residents help each other out. NRW.BANK used the federal state’s public housing promotion funds to finance six of the 21 new flats. The Kronenstraße project is a good example of the new residential philosophy of the twenties, with living and working increasingly happening in the same place. Singles, couples, families with children, senior citizens and people with disabilities live next door to each other and support each other.

A joint cooperative and private sector project

“A cooperative, a private investor and a project developer have joined forces to transform the site formerly used by the Hein de Groot furniture company and Bochum’s city archives between the theatre and the city centre into a flagship project for modern living,” says Dietrich Suhlrie, member of NRW.BANK’s Managing Board. “The Kronenstraße project shows how public housing promotion funds can be used to implement cross-generational housing concepts in the middle of the city that take account of demographic change and provide additional affordable and attractive housing.”

NRW.BANK supported the cooperative with a loan of around EUR 669,000 under the “Neubauförderung von Mietwohnungen” (subsidised construction of rental housing) promotional programme. The redemption discount alone amounted to around EUR 135,500.

Space for gathering and gardening

Three four to five-storey apartment buildings are arranged on the former 5,700 square metre brownfield site. They offer rented, owner-occupied and cooperative flats, a facility for outpatient day care, a café as well as rooms for a speech therapy practice and are connected by generous green spaces. Together with the playground, the latter provide plenty of space for gathering and gardening for all generations.

Publicly subsidised housing

The Krone Bochum eG cooperative alone invested EUR 6.1 million in its four-storey apartment building. It has 37 members, who have purchased shares in one of the 21 cooperative flats. The one to four-room flats are all barrier-free and some are even wheelchair accessible. The building also has a common room.

Construction started in February 2019, and the cooperative building was completed only 16 months later. The owner-occupied house followed at the end of July 2020, and the first tenants moved into the subsidised apartment building in December 2020. Shortly after the first residents had moved in, it already became evident that the neighbourhood community housing project is working. The residents use a chat to exchange shopping lists, arrange child care or organise balcony concerts during the coronavirus pandemic.