immo!nvest – Die Plattform für Standorte und Immobilien

Tag: Ziele

  • New investor for sustainable construction start-ups

    New investor for sustainable construction start-ups

    Buildify.earth was founded with the vision of supporting sustainable innovation in the construction industry. The investment company is particularly involved in the early development phases of start-ups and offers not only capital but also access to an extensive network. This network has been established over the years as part of the development of Switzerland Innovation Park Central, NEST and other organisations and is a valuable asset for the supported companies.

    Strategic partnerships and long-term goals
    Eight years ago, planning began for the location of the Innovation Park in Central Switzerland, which opened its doors in Rotkreuz in 2019 and has officially been part of Switzerland Innovation since 2021. The park now has over 100 members, including well-known players in the Swiss construction industry and research institutions. This network provides direct access to decision-makers and a platform for start-ups to forge important collaborations in a traditionally risk-averse industry.

    Provision of funding and resources
    The funds provided by private investors, the Zuger Kantonalbank and the park itself, which amount to a single-digit million sum, will enable buildify.earth to make significant initial investments, which are to be announced soon. The investment pipeline is richly filled, including 40 startups that are already members of the park. Buildify.earth AG takes a flexible role as a co-investor that can act quickly and act as a catalyst for further investments.

    Long-term planning and open doors for further investors
    Reto Largo and Sem Mattli, the heads of buildify.earth, are not only looking for promising start-ups, but also for further investors to strengthen the capital of the company’s evergreen structure. This structure fits well with the long innovation cycles in the construction sector and allows a portion of the proceeds to be reinvested while seeking attractive returns for investors. This is just the beginning of a long-term strategy aimed at making substantial investments in promising start-ups and actively shaping the future of the sustainable construction industry.

  • Spatial planning, the measure of all things?

    Spatial planning, the measure of all things?

    Source: Swiss Confederation

    In reality, however, the cantonal and municipal planning instruments are incomplete, rigid, purely quantitative and do not pursue a three-dimensionally developed picture of the future. The consequences are well known: Inconsistent cityscapes, insufficient densification potential, growing traffic volumes, uncoordinated infrastructural facilities and, finally, a dissatisfied population.

    Forward-looking spatial planning with new concepts is indispensable, because the current sluggish planning instruments of spatial planning are obviously at odds with the dynamic process of urban planning and to date fail to achieve the goals defined in the RPG.

    With the use of the already existing GIS data, the potential impacts on all relevant topics such as interior densification, land use, transport, energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions and many others could be visualised, evaluated and communicated in a participatory manner throughout Switzerland on the basis of qualitative future scenarios – and beyond the cantonal borders.

    Buildings in the context of spatial planning
    Spatial planning also creates the framework conditions for the development of neighbourhoods and ultimately of the building stock. When we talk about sustainable buildings, it is not enough to look at them in isolation and focus solely on their substance. Buildings are to be understood in their context and thus in consideration of their contribution to the reduction of traffic volume, to densification and to social integration. Following this logic, the two standards SNBS Building Construction for Building and SSREI for Existing Buildings have been developed in Switzerland. In terms of their content, both are unique in an international comparison.

    Source www.ssrei.ch

  • Federal Council wants to further strengthen the competitiveness of Swiss SMEs and regions

    Federal Council wants to further strengthen the competitiveness of Swiss SMEs and regions

    With the Dispatch on Location Promotion 2024-2027, the Federal Council is further developing the strategic foundations of federal location promotion. It is pursuing the following five goals with location promotion in the years 2024-2027: Improve the framework conditions for SMEs, strengthen regions, contribute to sustainable development, exploit the opportunities of digitalisation and strengthen the attractiveness of the business and tourism location. Compared to the period 2020-2023, the importance of sustainable development and digitalisation will be upgraded. In addition, location promotion will be geared even more strongly to the needs of the main target groups – SMEs and regions. In order to implement the goals, 23 concrete activities will be defined in the coming years by SECO and the mandated organisations (guarantee cooperatives, Swiss Export Risk Insurance, Swiss Association for Hotel Credit, Switzerland Tourism, Switzerland Global Enterprise). Some of them are implemented in cooperation with the cantons and other partners.

    The focal points of location promotion
    In SME policy, the focus is on expanding EasyGov.swiss, the one-stop shop of the Confederation, cantons and municipalities for businesses. This can make a significant contribution to reducing the administrative burden on businesses. In the period 2024-2027, the scope of EasyGov services is to be further expanded in order to meet the needs of businesses for additional electronic government services. As part of the expansion of EasyGov, it is planned, for example, to be able to offer businesses a bundled process for moving companies (change of address) in the future. Further expansion is also planned in the area of aliens law notifications and permits for businesses.

    In tourism policy, the focus is on the further development of investment promotion, sustainable development and the digital transformation of tourism. Another priority for the years 2024-2027 is the implementation of the recovery programme for Swiss tourism to counteract the effects of the Covid 19 pandemic.

    The New Regional Policy NRP will enter its third eight-year multi-annual period (2024-2031) in 2024. The existing thematic funding priorities of “industry” and “tourism” will be continued. In addition to digitalisation, sustainable development and the “local economy”, which complements the export orientation of the NRP, will be given particular weight as cross-cutting themes.

    Finally, the offer of support for the export industry, for example in relation to trade-related issues, and in particular access for Swiss exporters to large foreign infrastructure projects, will be further developed in line with demand and the “Team Switzerland” approach will be expanded. For example, various associations, federal offices, Switzerland Global Enterprise and Swiss Export Risk Insurance are increasingly conducting joint promotional activities abroad. These are aimed, among others, at general contractors who carry out large infrastructure projects. Further business opportunities are being identified in important markets.

    Commitment credits and payment frameworks
    In order to continue and further develop the instruments of location promotion, the Federal Council is proposing commitment credits and payment frameworks totalling CHF 428.83 million to parliament for the years 2024-2027. For the years 2020-2023, an amount of around CHF 399 million was available. In addition, there is a payment framework for the creation of the Regional Development Fund in the years 2024-2031 amounting to CHF 217.3 million (reduced by CHF 12.7 million compared to the previous period 2016-2023).

    Location promotion is implemented using the instruments of SME policy, tourism policy, the New Regional Policy (NRP) and foreign trade promotion.

  • Profit increase of over 6% at Swiss Prime Site

    Profit increase of over 6% at Swiss Prime Site

    The key figures for 2022 are characterized by two factors: on the one hand, the Akara Group from Zug was included in the scope of consolidation for the first time with the closing on January 10, 2022, and on the other hand, the consolidated financial statements for 2022 were prepared in accordance with the IFRS accounting standard and the previous year's figures were adjusted accordingly.

    Interest rate turnaround heralded, but resistant Swiss real estate market
     In the year to date, the Swiss economy has continued on its growth course, despite geopolitical challenges, supply chain problems and rising prices. With an increase of 105,000 jobs in the service sector over the past 12 months and a record 114,000 vacancies, the outlook for the economy remains positive. The key interest rate increase by the Swiss National Bank (SNB) by 50 basis points in June 2022 is intended to prevent inflation, which is also increasing in Switzerland, from spreading to goods and services across the board. Inflation here is still below that in the European markets. Despite the further interest rate hikes announced by the SNB for 2022, we are still in a negative real interest rate environment. This favors real value investments such as real estate. Accordingly, we have only seen isolated reactions in the real estate market so far. First-class locations continue to be in demand by tenants and investors.

    Increase in operating income and good rental income
     The positive business development of the Swiss Prime Site Group is reflected in the increase in operating income by 2.5% to CHF 378.9 million. All group companies contributed to this. In the first half of 2022, we were able to newly let or re-let an area of over 102,000 m2 [47,000 m2] in our own real estate portfolio. This often happened on better terms and led to an increase in rental income to CHF 214.2 million (+1.9% on a comparable basis). The vacancy rate was reduced to 4.4% [4.7%]. The WAULT is still 5.5 years [5.6 years]. The rental successes more than compensated for the rent of CHF 3.3 million from the modernization project on Müllerstrasse in Zurich, which was still included in the first half of 2021, as well as the absence of the sale of properties as part of our capital recycling strategy. This involved a portfolio with seven properties, which was sold to the newly launched “Swiss Prime Site Solutions Investment Fund Commercial”, as well as two other properties in St. Gallen. This resulted in a pre-tax profit of CHF 14.7 million. Sales profits will increase significantly again in the second half of 2022 due to real estate sales already signed in the amount of more than CHF 165 million (including house B “Espace Tourbillon” in Plan-les-Ouates).

    Further details: sps.swiss/en/media/media-releases