"7Höfe: A new urban district is being created in Bocholt

It has the size and potential of its own city district: "7Höfe in Bocholt". This is the name of the residential project for which the starting signal has now been given in Bocholt. Near the river Bocholter Aa, between Münsterstraße, Theodor-Heuss-Ring and Don-Bosco-Straße, 375 energy-efficient flats will be built on an area of 42,000 square metres over the next few years, suitable for different types of living. In addition, there will be social infrastructure such as a neighbourhood meeting place and a kindergarten.

The developer of the "7Höfe" is Stadt + Quartier GmbH, a joint venture of the cooperative WohnBau Group and Sparkasse Westmünsterland. According to the investor, the investment volume is 130 million euros. Just under half of the flats will be subsidised through social housing. The first tenants are expected to move in by mid-2025.

On Monday, the project participants of WohnBau Westmünsterland eG and Sparkasse Westmünsterland met with Daniel Sieveke - State Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs, Municipal Affairs, Building and Digitalisation of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia - and representatives of the building trade, the architectural and engineering firms involved in the project, NRW.Bank as well as politicians and administrators to celebrate the start of construction of the first two phases (190 flats) with the symbolic groundbreaking ceremony as planned. A total of seven construction phases are planned.

Mayor Thomas Kerkhoff spoke of the "most exciting housing construction and conversion project in the entire Münsterland region. We have been experiencing a growing demand for housing in Bocholt for years. The "7Höfe" project helps to meet this demand. The creation of new living space for different population groups will further increase the diversity and attractiveness of Bocholt."

The "7Höfe" project is framed by newly developed municipal infrastructure in the so-called "Kulturquartier Bocholter Aa und Industriestraße", or "Kubaai" for short. The city of Bocholt is gradually reactivating a historic industrial wasteland on the site between the city centre and the Aa Lake. The existing podium bridge - connecting new and old - has been open since 2018. The "sunken bridge" along the Bocholter Aa - below the Theodor-Heuss-Ring in direct connection to Bocholt's city centre - has been opened for cycling traffic; and the railway bridge as part of the cycle expressway has also already been completed. On the opposite bank to the "7Höfen", the Bocholt "Lernwerk", an educational and cultural focal point in historic-modern architecture, is nearing completion.

A centrepiece of the overall "7Höfe" development is the promenade with steps and renaturalised riverbank that is being built directly on the site. A neighbourhood bridge - opposite the central neighbourhood axis - will round off the connections in the future.

Current information on the "7Höfe" project is available at https://wohnbau-wml.de/projekte/7hoefe-leben-an-der-aa/.