Velten is planning a new residential area: 800 apartments for the stove town!

Velten is planning a new residential area: 800 apartments for the stove town!

Velten. A new residential project is to be created here that could create urgently needed living space in the bacon belt city. Up to 800 apartments could be realized in several construction phases, but the first residents have to be patient by 2029 or 2030, as REG boss Philipp Gall explains.

The city councils have now cleared the way for the construction project. An urban planning concept was already adopted in 2018 that provides for the development of the area between Bötzower Straße and Rosa-Luxemburg-Strasse. The mission statement was decided in November, which is due to serve as the basis for the implementation until after 2030. The first construction plans stipulate that 60 percent of the new apartments should be built in storey and 40 percent according to the local model.

Tome points and participation of the citizens

Not all of them are enthusiastic. The AfD parliamentary group criticizes the project as a "excessive growth concept" and calls for the protection of the valuable biotopes that exist here. Group leader Heiko Gehring warns of the ecological consequences and calls for specific protective measures. On the other hand, the parliamentary group per Velten sees the need to create new living space in order to combat rising rental prices. Mandy Krüger from Pro Velten also demands a citizen participation to clarify the size of the project and ensure that the new apartments are easily accessible.

The Reg Plans to found a subsidiary for project development after the Helma group, which was originally commissioned to build the building, registered bankruptcy. Gall is optimistic that a new investor was found. "There is an insight that housing is needed," he says, emphasizing that dense development does not fit the small town character of Veltens. Instead, he advocates an "airy way of building" and leaves open whether only 500 residential units may be created in the end.