2 November/3 November 2019 ★ FT Weekend 7
House Home
Sitting at the crossroads
Andermatt is at the crossroads of trade
routes, weather fronts and cultures, as
three passes — Furka, St Gothard and
Oberalp — snake away from the Ursern
valley to three separate regions of Swit-
zerland, each with a different linguistic
heritage. But the path to development
has not been smooth. This 19th-century
spa resort later became a garrison for
the Swiss federal army. The local econ-
omy was dependent on the army and
when the military left in the 1990s after
the cold war ended, Andermatt fell into
decline and struggled to maintain its
population. Young residents left in
search of apprenticeships and jobs.
Martin Jörg, secretary of the Ander-
matt community board, which repre-
sents local people, says some opposed
Sawiris’s plans at first: “There are
always people who do not support
the development, on the grounds that
that residents broadly support the
project and investment today: “Ander-
matt has reached a size that can hold its
own in the international market.”
Ludwig Loretz is a local taxi driver in
his late 40s and an Andermatter. He left
the town as a young man tolook forand tall granitecliffs surrounding the
valley make Andermatt an unusual
choice. Many locals say you have to love
the outdoors and the raw, often harsh,
elements to settle here.
Collins says buyers choose the resort
because it is a place where “you can be a
bit anonymous. Andermatt is slightly
low key, a bit of an off-the-radar place.”Green under the snow
The development’s environmental
approach is key to its strategy, and
Sawiris hopes it will appeal to younger
buyers: power comes solelyfrom renew-
able sources and single-use plastics are
banned.There are also plans to charter
Saturday trains from Zurich to encour-
age people to leave their cars at home.
Sawiris worked with local environ-
mental groups when building the joint
ski area soas not to interfere with the(Above) The
village in winter;
(above right)
the town’s
museum; (left)
penthouse at
Chedi
Residences
Courtesy of AUT; Tommy
Picone AndermattSWITZERLAND
MilanBasel
ZurichFRANCEITALYGERMANYmaps news.com/©HERE km1,500
Population of the village147
Number of residential units built
to date42
Number of apartment blocks
built and plannedturning more and more towards sum-
mer tourism with a growing number of
summer events and activities,” says
Jeisy. “This is because now, two or three
good weekends in winter bring in as
much in terms of earnings as a whole
summer season in some areas.”
Jürgen Grimm, originally from Bonn,
is visiting Andermatt for the first time in
many years. He used to come skiing
here with his father and remembers the
town as it was 20 years ago. He is not
convinced by the modern architecture:
“It’s like Frankfurt: all high-rise,” he
says. “The buildings are nice but too big
for a little town.”
“The charm of the alpine chalet is a bit
lost,” says Hanspeter Lendi, a Swiss
national whoskis here with his family
and is visiting on business. But he thinks
the development is good for the town
and that it will attract more tourists.
Bänz Simmen, a local tour guide, says
that the success feels more realistic now
that more than €1bn has been invested
in town,compared with 15 years ago
when Sawiris showed up with his grand
vision. “The chance to be successful is
big, but it takes more than money — it
takes people,” he says.Aleks Wisniewska travelled as a guest of
Andermatt Swiss Alpsthe resort would be realised with too
large buildings, that the intervention in
the landscape is unnecessary and the
winter sports forecast rather stagnant, if
not declining.”
But he points out that development
on this scale always presents a risk, andhabitats of local wildlife. Michel Jeisy,
founder of Enviso, an environmental
planning consultancy involved in
the project, says that both sides compro-
mised. “It was a huge step for environ-
mental organisations to agree with
[the ski area],” he adds. Jeisy isexpect-
ing an auditsoon to assess the
environmental impact, which he says is
difficult to predict.
He points to Livigno, a resort in the
Italian Alps, which was left looking
barren and unsightly in summer after
rockswere removed from its hillsides.
Jeisy hopes the effect of the develop-
ment on the Andermatt slopes will be
temporary, as vegetation takes a few
years to regenerate.
Not everyone is sold. The modern
design of the resort has attracted criti-
cism, especially among those who
remember the old Andermatt fondly.
“You can see mountain developmentswork but came back to settle with his
family when he heard about the devel-
opment. “There are new jobs and inter-
esting ones,” he says, adding that Ander-
matters must “innovate to get by”.
Because of its size, the development is
exempt from the Swiss Lex Koller law,
which limits foreignpropertyowner-
ship. Apartments are being sold tobuy-
ers from all over the world: while 50 per
cent of buyers are Swiss,the rest come
from the UK, Germany, Italy, Singapore,
Mexico and Russia.
Construction lags demand says
Russell Collins, head of sales. Two
blocks will come to the market this
autumn, starting at €810,500 for an 80
sq m one-bedroom apartment. Top-end
three bedroom apartments will cost up
to €1.58m. Across the development,
prices range between €9,070 and
€23,128 per sq m.
The rugged peaks, hostile weatherSki Special
NOVEMBER 2 2019 Section:Weekend Time: 10/201930/ - 17:46 User: elizabeth.robinson Page Name:RES7 , Part,Page,Edition:RES , 7, 1