Basel: Traditional Hotel Merian is on the brink of collapse
The Zurich hotel group ZFV plans to close the four-star Hotel Merian and the associated Spitz restaurant on the Mittlere Rheinbrücke in spring 2024. A new owner is now being sought.
The traditional Sorell Hotel Merian on Rheingasse, located directly on the Middle Rhine Bridge, will close after Fasnacht 2024. This was announced by the owner, the ZFV-Unternehmungen (ZFV) cooperative. The reason is that the property would have to be extensively renovated, which is not feasible for ZFV. They now want to look for new models and sponsors for the future direction of the building.
The ZFV sees two options for the future of the building: either a sponsor could be sought for the total renovation and continued operation of the hotel. According to ZFV, there is a preliminary project that would do justice to "the great urban development potential in combination with gastronomy and hotel as a place for Basel". Or the hotel could be converted into a new form of use, according to the hotel group. ZFV believes that this second option is the best option, as it does not consider a hotel and restaurant business to be economically feasible. The investment volume for a refurbishment is much higher than originally assumed. Urban planning requirements, high monument protection requirements and the sharp rise in construction and financing costs would all have an impact. A renovation would cost around CHF 40 million, according to a report by the Basel newspaper.
ZFV acquired the building lease for the property from the Christoph Merian Foundation in 2018. The Drei Ehrengesellschaften Kleinbasels are the grantors of the building rights. (ah)
