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In Basel, Bern and Zurich, real estate experts are registering a massive increase in demand for office space. Many employees are returning to the office after two years of the pandemic.
Thousands of square meters of office space have been vacant for the past two years, including the Messeturm in Basel. Entire floors were deserted because the Basel pharmaceutical company Roche had moved out of the building. The high-rise is now almost completely rented again.
What is currently happening in Basel is a Swiss-wide phenomenon, says Martin Kaleja, CEO of Swiss Prime Site, one of the largest real estate companies in Switzerland. In various large Swiss cities, the office market has practically recovered after the pandemic: “This development surprised me. In good locations, demand is currently picking up sharply, be it in Zurich, Basel or Geneva.”
Legend:
Practically all of the office space in the Basel Messeturm has been let again.
key stone
It is not yet known how strong this increase is in concrete terms. Most of the big real estate companies collect those figures only twice a year. These are currently pending. However, Kaleja confirms that there are hardly any vacancies in good locations.
In good locations, demand is currently increasing very strongly. Be it in Zurich, Basel or Geneva.
This is also stated by Donato Scognamiglio. He observes the real estate market, including for large customers such as the Basler Kantonalbank: “Many employees missed working together. That’s why they’re going back to the office.”
The home as permanent competitor
Robert Weinert, real estate expert at “Wüst und Partner” says: With the lifting of the home office requirement in the spring, only some of the employees returned to the office. “Today we estimate that only around 30 percent of the work takes place in the home office – the rest in the office.” Hybrid forms of work have now become established in most large companies. The real estate industry is currently observing the return to the office particularly strongly among companies in the life sciences sector and among start-ups.
Many employees missed the togetherness, their colleagues. So now they’re going back to the office.
A lot has changed with the pandemic. “The demands on an office have changed: they are in constant competition with the home office,” says Weinert.