Basel: Development plan for former UBS property approved
The Seraina Investment Foundation's project in Basel's city center is one step further. An objection to the project has been received.
The Basel-Stadt cantonal government has approved the development plan for the former UBS building at Aeschenplatz 6. The matter now goes to the Grand Council. Developer Seraina wants to convert the office property into apartments, restaurants and leisure facilities.
The building was built in the mid-1980s as the headquarters of the Swiss Bankers Association and was used by UBS until mid-2022. The Seraina Investment Foundation acquired the property in 2021. According to its plans, a third of the apartments will be affordable. The outdoor spaces are to be landscaped and open to the public. There are also plans for a new path connection from Aeschenplatz to Gartenstrasse and public-oriented facilities on the ground and basement floors as well as a publicly accessible bike station.
An objection
The basis for the development plan is the indicative project by the consortium Staufer & Hasler Architekten, Graser Troxler Architekten and Maurus Schifferli Landschaftsarchitekten, which emerged from a study commission in 2023. The public planning application for the development plan was submitted to the Department of Construction and Transport in June 2025. According to the canton, one objection to the development plan has been received. The cantonal government is asking the Grand Council to reject it. (aw)
