The Schorenareal extends over an area of 70,000m2 and lies between the motorway and railway line, just a few hundred meters from Münchenstein station. For decades, it was home to manufacturing by ABB’s predecessor BBC. In 2016, the canton sold the site to Basel lawyer and investor Thomas Staehelin, President of the Chamber of Commerce of the two Basel cantons at the time. With uptown Basel AG, it is establishing a competence center for Industry 4.0. Construction began in March, with the foundation stone for phase one officially laid last Friday. The first building will offer lettable space of 25,000m2 over five floors, of which 70 percent has already leased, as site developer Hans-Jörg Fankhauser revealed in an article by the Basler Zeitung newspaper.

Around 500 million francs is being invested in the development by uptown Basel AG, which is expected to create approximately 2,000 jobs. With Axians and Bouygues, two major European technology companies are confirmed as moving to uptown. Cumulatively, they intend to offer 400 jobs at this site.

The economic director of Basel-Land Thomas Weber speaks of a renaissance for industry in the canton. “A quantum leap has been achieved with Staehelin’s project” he says in the newspaper article. “The historic potential of the site has been perfectly transformed for the future.”

The first building will be completed at the end of 2021. A further 10,000m2 of lettable space will follow down the line.