Obos, Selvaag and Skanska notify of lawsuits and compensation claims against Oslo municipality – Greater Oslo

In Ulvenkroken kindergarten on Oslo’s eastern edge, the play stands are in place. Inside, the shelves are only missing name tags. Oslo municipality demanded that Obos build a kindergarten in order to be allowed to build homes at all. They did the same in Lille Løren Park and Borgen på Løren. Here, Selvaag and Skanska are developers. Ulven and Løren are among Oslo’s fastest growing residential areas. ULVENKROKEN: The Obos project at Ulven consists of 180 homes. The kindergarten was a so-called succession requirement from Oslo City Council. Photo: Rolf Petter Olaisen / news – Premise all the way The developer trio has always assumed that the municipality would buy the kindergartens. – We understand that it has been a premise all along, says Ingunn Andersen Randa in Obos. She is project director for housing development in big cities at the country’s largest housebuilder. Randa says that this has been the practice for many years: The municipality has demanded a kindergarten, Obos has built, and the municipality has taken over. She says that the kindergartens are designed together with Oslo municipality, and planned according to their requirements specifications, which are extra strict. The last thing they agreed on before the summer is what the signs at the kindergarten should look like – with Oslo municipality’s logo. ALMOST DONE: Ulvenkroken kindergarten was originally supposed to accept children in February. Photo: Rolf Petter Olaisen / news Together, the three kindergartens cost NOK 300 million to build. Like lightning out of the blue That’s why it came like lightning out of the blue when Oslo municipality announced this summer that they didn’t want the kindergartens after all. – We were very surprised, says Ingunn Andersen Randa in Obos. The chin drop was equally large at Selvaag and Skanska. – Did you get any justification? – No, nothing other than that they no longer needed the kindergartens, says Randa. These are the projects Ulvenkroken Developer Obos 180 homes 6-section kindergarten completed February 2025 Lille Løren Park Developer Selvaag 355 homes 4-section kindergarten completed August/September 2025 Borgen (Løren) Developer Skanska 285 homes 4-section kindergarten completed June 2025 – Clearly breach of contract Obos, Selvaag and Skanska have now sent notice of a lawsuit to Oslo municipality. – It is clearly a breach of contract, we believe, says director of housing development at Skanska, Magnus Ervik. Obos and Selvaag agree. – We perceive it that way. We are very surprised that in the middle of the summer holidays we only get e-mails where they withdraw from what we consider to be an agreement, says project director for housing development in Greater Oslo in Selvaag, Line Wegger. The city council wants private – The allegation of a breach of contract is wrong, says education councilor Julie Remen Midtgarden (H). She is responsible for school and kindergarten policy in the city. – No binding agreement has been entered into, and the parties have not agreed on a price, she says. PRIVATE: While all new kindergartens under the red-green city council should be municipal, Høyre’s education councilor Julie Remen Midtgarden says that private players will now be responsible for the establishment of new kindergartens. Photo: Hallgeir Braastad / news According to Midtgarden, the municipality therefore has the opportunity to withdraw from the processes. And the rationale is political, not to mention ideological: – The city council wants private actors to be responsible for the establishment of new kindergartens, which the previous city council proposed that the municipality should buy, says the Conservative councillor. – Everything clear except the sum According to Obos, Selvaag and Skanska, the municipality cannot turn away even if there is no final purchase contract. – Everything in the purchase contract is complete except the cost. We don’t know it until the very end, says Ingunn Andersen Randa in Obos. She says that the purchase price will be the construction cost with a 4 percent surcharge. – This is in line with established practice and at the request of Oslo municipality, says Randa. VERY SURPRISED: Executive director housing development metropolitan in Obos, Ingunn Andersen Randa. Photo: Rolf Petter Olaisen / news Several tens of millions According to the developers, it is not just about finding private buyers for the three kindergartens. This is partly because strict requirements from the municipality have made them expensive to build. – We can have three completed kindergartens that will be left empty, says Line Wegger in Selvaag. In any case, the three expect to have to sell them at a loss. In that case, Oslo municipality can expect a hefty compensation claim. – For the three kindergartens, we would definitely believe that it is several tens of millions, says Ingunn Andersen Randa in Obos. – For the residential areas and for the children who are on the waiting list around here, we hope it is possible to get someone to run them, she adds. WHO WILL PLAY? Obos cannot say how long the slide and climbing frames at Ulven will remain empty. Photo: Rolf Petter Olaisen / news Want dialogue Julie Remen Midtgarden says that she understands that this is not necessarily easy. – This change in policy will be handled in as orderly a manner as possible for all the parties involved, says the kindergarten council. She says that she wants to have a dialogue with the developers, but maintains that the municipality will not take over. Published 18.10.2024, at 07.01 Updated 18.10.2024, at 09.24



ttn-69