List of the 3 largest housing cooperatives in North Rhine-Westphalia

North Rhine-Westphalia, with its numerous large cities and the industrial regions on the Rhine and Ruhr, has always offered good conditions for housing development and thus also for the founding of housing cooperatives. More than 300 still exist. Here are the TOP 3: This article is based on the unique Top 300 Baugenossenschaften Deutschland – List of the largest German housing cooperatives.

Place 1: Spar- und Bauverein eG Dortmund, Dortmund: 11,660 residential units (2020)

Spar- und Bauverein eG Dortmund has been around since 1893. It was founded as a typical self-help institution for housing construction and also included a savings institution from the beginning. Today the cooperative has almost 20,000 members. The housing stock is like a time travel through more than 100 years of building history and is located in Dortmund, Unna-Königsborn and Holzwickede. Prominent residential buildings include the Althoffblock (from 1914) and the Borsigblock – both in Dortmund.

Place 2: Düsseldorfer Wohnungsgenossenschaft eG, Düsseldorf: 6,939 residential units (2020)

May 6, 1898 marks the founding date of the Düsseldorfer Wohnungsgenossenschaft – a measure to alleviate the prevailing housing shortage through self-help. Within 20 years, Düsseldorf’s population at the time had skyrocketed from 100,000 to over 200,000. In the beginning, the cooperative had just under 400 members, today it has over 11,000. The apartments are located throughout the Düsseldorf city area. New buildings are also being constructed. In the medium term, up to 1,000 new residential units are planned – also in prime locations such as Oberkassel, Bilk or Kaiserswerth.

Place 3: GEWOBAU Wohnungsgenossenschaft Essen eG, Essen: 5,503 residential units (2020)

GEWOBAU was founded in 1906 to meet the increasing demand for housing in the rapidly growing Ruhr metropolis. As one of Essen’s largest housing providers, it feels a particular commitment to the city and its residents. With its non-profit foundation WohnLeben, GEWOBAU also stands for community projects, environmental protection and social commitment in its neighbourhoods. The company’s activities mainly comprise portfolio management and maintenance, but also new construction where necessary – for example in the Bergerhausen district, where an old GEWOBAU housing estate is being replaced by new buildings.

Image source: Unsplash

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