Basel: Axa Investment Foundation can renovate the main post office

Nothing stands in the way of the redevelopment of the former main post office in Basel's old town. According to the owner Axa Investment Foundation, it has received the building permit for its building application. The construction work is intended to enhance the character of the 140-year-old building, Axa Anlagestiftung writes in the statement. The centerpiece will be a covered courtyard, and the passageway between Gerbergasse and Freie Strasse, which previously served as a delivery point for the post office, will be transformed into a publicly accessible passageway. Access to the stores on the first floor and to the upper floors is to be provided from here. In addition, a sales and gastronomy offer is planned in the passage, explains Pascal Messmer, asset manager at Axa Investment Managers.

Floors five and six of the main post office will be demolished, and the new gable roof will have a wrap-around terrace with glazing. How this space will be used in the future is still open, according to Axa. "We can imagine numerous uses. These also depend on the general tenant mix in the building," Messmer said. The first floor will have a total of 1,500 square meters of retail space, some of which will be nine meters high. The five upper floors with a view rooftop will offer another 5,000 sqm for offices and services.

The Basel architectural firm Herzog & de Meuron was commissioned with the redesign. The plan also calls for six antique stone arches, once part of an arcade and stored in the main post office archives, to be reinstalled in their original locations. Also being reinstated, according to Axa, are historic window reveals. They are to become part of a display window in the vestibule of the passage.

Axa plans to hand over the building to the new tenants in spring 2025. The main post office will then be open to the public again. (ah)