Grand Council BS Development plan approved for new towers at the Lonza high-rise in Basel

The Basel Grand Council approved the development plan for the Lonza AG Lindenhof site in Basel on Thursday. In addition to the current high-rise building, two further towers with space for 700 workplaces and 200 apartments are to be built.

The Grand Council approved the development plan by 75 votes to 14 with 4 abstentions.

In negotiations with the developer, the preliminary building and spatial planning committee had stipulated a proportion of 25 percent affordable housing. This is below the proportion of 30 percent actually stipulated in the counter-proposal to the withdrawn "Basel builds the future" initiative. However, with an area of less than 15,000 square meters, this proportion does not necessarily have to be set.

Only the Green-Alternative Alliance (GAB) was skeptical about the development plan. They could live with the 25 percent compromise, said parliamentary group spokesperson Tonja Zürcher. However, she proposed an amendment to reduce the planned parking spaces from almost 300 to 174. More parking spaces would not be compatible with the neighborhood, she said.

In addition, the GAB wants to bind the developer to the target values of the SIA energy efficiency path with the development plan.

The GAB's amendments did not meet with the approval of the other parliamentary groups. They were rejected by a large majority.

SDA