Basel: CS investment foundation sells market hall
The Markthalle in Basel has a new owner. On August 1, the non-profit Edith Maryon AG will acquire the property from CSA Real Estate Switzerland (CSA RES), an investment group of the Credit Suisse Investment Foundation.
Edith Maryon AG, a subsidiary of the Edith Maryon Foundation, is purchasing the Markthalle Basel, which was built in 1929, including the associated peripheral buildings, but excluding the residential tower built in 2011, which remains the property of the seller CSA RES. This means that properties with a total usable area of 13,822 square meters are changing hands.
The tenants of the peripheral buildings and the base level include Wohnstadt Bau- und Verwaltungsgenossenschaft, mountain sports outfitter Bächli, Saner Apotheke, Ita Wegman Ambulatorium, a maternity and nursing fashion store and an electronics retailer. All existing tenancy agreements will be taken over. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price.
Markthallen AG Basel and partners have been operating numerous gastronomic and cultural offerings in the Markthalle, Basel's largest domed building, since October 2013. Edith Maryon AG intends to continue and expand this concept. In addition to small gastronomic businesses, the plan is to attract more producers, including manufacturers of bread and baked goods as well as dairy products, market stalls for handicrafts and food as well as manufacturing businesses.
The property has a long and eventful history behind it. Until 2003, the building was used as a market hall. In 2006, Allreal AG acquired the building, which had previously belonged to the canton, according to local media. The takeover was subject to conditions relating to the protection of listed buildings and the public use of the hall. CSA RES took over the property at the end of 2012.
The building was initially intended to be used as a shopping center, but this failed. From October 2013, the market hall concept with gastronomic offerings and small stores was initially launched as an interim use. Although this concept was successful, it did not generate the income that the investment foundation had originally expected, its director Andreas Roth told local media. For this reason, a solution was sought together with Markthallen AG for the period after the current contract expires at the end of 2017. With the sale of the commercial parts of the Markthalle, CSA RES now wants to concentrate on its actual focus, the rental of residential space, according to Roth. (ah)
