Largest increase in empty offices in Basel during 2016
There was a marked increase in the number of empty offices across the largest cities in Switzerland last year.
The quota of available office space in Zurich, Geneva, Bern, Lausanne, and Basel grew by around seven per cent to a total of 791,000 square metres.
These are the highest vacancy rates in more than ten years, real estate expert Martin Bernhard from consulting company Jones Long LaSalle, told the sda news agency on Wednesday.
Basel had the largest increase in vacancy rates, which rose by half between 2015 and 2016 to 61,000 square, according to JJL’s latest study of the office market in Switzerland. A significant reason for the increase was the completion of the Neuhaus Grosspeter Tower in the St. Alban quarter of the city centre, where 11,500 square metres of new office space are now available.
Slight moderation
According to the study, the increase is less dramatic from a historical perspective. The percentage of vacant office space reached approximately the same level between 2010 and 2012. The office market in Basel has been slightly more moderate, JJL Switzerland CEO Jan Eckert told the media conference.
Nevertheless, the availability quota is still low at 2.8 per cent. With the planned completion of the Meret Oppenheim high rise at the end of 2018 or beginning of 2019, the long-term scarcity of modern office space in Basel’s city centre will be eased a little. As of now, large office spaces are available mostly outside the city centre.
Lausanne also saw a marked increase in empty office space by a quarter to 44,000 square metres last year, particularly in the west of the city. In the city itself however the availability has not changed significantly. In general, Lausanne remains a difficult office market with an availability quota of just 2.4 per cent.
Novartis CEO: Patients should only pay for medication if it works
The pharmaceutical industry wants to fight its image problems with a sort of money-back-guarantee. At the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Novartis CEO Joe Jimenez has advertised a new pricing system whereby fees are only paid if a medication works.
The most recent controversy regarding medication prices had added further damage to the already tarnished reputation of the pharmaceutical industry, Novartis CEO Joe Jimenez wrote in a guest column on the WEF website. The industry has to show strongly that it is worth its money, Mr Jimenez said.
To achieve this, the CEO of the Basel pharmaceutical giant suggested a change in the pricing system. The pharmaceutical industry should be paid for the effectiveness of its medication rather than for the amount of drugs it sells.
Mr Jimenez’ idea is not new; Novartis and Roche suggested the idea two years ago. The money-back-guarantee for medication is to be discussed at a round table meeting at the WEF next Wednesday.
“Enormous waste”
There is currently enormous waste within the system, Mr Jimenez said in the column. Many things that are of only little use to a patient are costing the healthcare sector precious dollars. “We have to focus on the interventions which have the best results,” he said.
A study estimated that the cost of the healthcare system in the United States could be lowered by 25 per cent if “useless” treatments were withdrawn, Mr Jimenez wrote.
“We have to put the focus of discussions on the value and the results of therapies instead of their costs,” he said.
Mr Jimenez said the pharmaceutical industry would be taking a big risk with this idea, and that in the short term, the cost of such a system change could alarm shareholders.
However, he added that in order to achieve the future sustainability of a healthcare system, long-term thinking is necessary and the change would create larger transparency.
Basel’s airport becomes construction site due to high passenger numbers
Year after year, the ever-increasing numbers of passengers is nothing new for Basel’s EuroAirport. Neither is the fact that this growth is thanks to EasyJet. However, it is a surprise that the airport itself is to undergo a new expansion.
More than three dozen journalists crammed themselves into a press conference at the “Salle des Aviateurs” and were met by a group of EuroAirport managers in a good mood. The review of the last year and the outlook on the coming months were of course presented in two languages (French and German).
Again and again, the words “la situation globale” were said, which of course have their own consequences for the airport. Airport director Matthias Suhr explained that the political unrest in Turkey alone had resulted in a loss of 400,000 potential passengers. Naturally, the fear of terror attacks in France and tightened security measures are also important topics. Even more important this year is the British ‘Brexit’ from the EU and the upcoming elections in Germany and France.
Even more large-scale projects
The view of the future is all about large-scale projects as well as growth. The plans for the EuroAirport are big – they predict that they will receive an estimated 300,000 additional passengers in 2017.
The aircraft maintenance company Jet Aviation will invest 30 million Swiss francs in Basel. Likewise, AMAC Aerospace will expand in the industrial sector. There are also expansion plans for the courier services, DHL and FedEx. It is because of these and other factors that the EuroAirport is the second-largest employer in the Alsace. Currently, 6,200 people work for the EuroAirport – 1,200 more than ten years ago.