Križevci

 

Country: Croatia

City: Križevci

District: Križevci

Description of the project:

The location of the future housing cooperative is situated very near the center of the City of Križevci, close to public facilities. The district is a former military base with an area of approximately 77.000 square meters. The military left the premises in 2003 and the city of Križevci started the conversion of the district for civilian purposes in 2007. Since then, most of the existing barracks have been renovated and converted for new purposes like the development center and technology park, kindergarten, polyclinic, and retirement home, but also some newly constructed buildings like a high school, a city library, and an observatory. In 2018. The Croatian government formally transferred the ownership of the area to the City of Križevci, with the condition that it can be used only for social development and non-profit purposes and that the ownership of the area or certain parts of the site cannot be transferred further.

A four-story former military dormitory is one of the existing buildings that is still partially unused. The ground floor is occupied by a polyclinic and a kindergarten and the rest of the building is reserved for non-profit residential use. Planned conversion into a housing cooperative is one of the last phases of the district renovation that will provide much-needed affordable housing units and increase the quality of life in the neighbourhood.

Since this is a housing cooperative pilot project in Croatia, it holds great value not only for the mentioned district but for the whole country in general as a proof of concept, and with the central position in the city, it can present a real showcase for other cooperative housing projects in Croatia.