Investment in real estate

Three new skyscrapers at Basel railway station

Until a few years ago, Swiss Post’s real estate strategy was to sell all buildings no longer in use. Today, Swiss Post invests in its properties at prime locations, converting them into income properties. As it is doing in Basel.

The rust-coloured Swiss Post building Basel 2 is ageing somewhat and today stands mostly empty. Swiss Post currently uses only part of it for its operational requirements. As repurposing the industrial building proved to be very difficult, the property at a prime location above the tracks at Basel railway station is now set to be converted into a completely new building complex.

“Nauentor” new construction project

The project is known as “Nauentor” and boasts much more than a high-quality building complex. The new building not only offers a modern space for a wide variety of home and office uses, it also creates the prerequisites for improving the connections between the St Alban and Gundeldingen neighbourhoods and optimizing access to the tracks – two long-cherished wishes of the people of Basel.

The building will therefore not be renovated, but instead stripped down to the concrete slab. Swiss Post will use this as the base for constructing the main building, along with two skyscrapers. This first phase will be completed by 2025. SBB will then erect a third tower between Solothurnerstrasse and Meret-Oppenheim-Strasse by 2028.

Swiss Post expects to see the first construction machines moving into place in 2022. Before that happens, however, the planning process will have to be completed and a zone change approved. The documents are currently with the cantonal council. Over the next 12 years, Swiss Post will invest a total of 1.8 billion francs in the development of around 50 properties.