RE Capital agrees first pre-let at flagship Swiss industrial project to global high-tech manufacturer
RE Capital has agreed a 8,300 sqm pre-let to GF Machining Solutions at RUBIX, its flagship industrial project in Geneva, Switzerland.
GF Machining Solutions, the Swiss-based global high-tech manufacturing leader founded in 1802 and which now has over 3,500 employees across 50 locations worldwide, is responsible for a range of products from robots for milling to lasers. Its customer base includes aeronautics, energy, medical, electrical components, and the motorised sector. With plans to occupy the space when it completes in 2025, GF Machining Solutions will take more than 25% of the total project area at RUBIX, RE Capital’s cutting-edge light industrial and logistics asset in the centre of western Europe.
The RUBIX project will convert 47,000 sqm of two former factory buildings into a multi-modular, high-tech, eco-efficient facility. The interiors of the building will be designed in a free plan system, and floor load capacity and ceiling height will allow for unlimited re-configuration of the spaces without resorting to large structural modifications. Tenants can personalise their premises according to their needs and transform them as their activities evolve. This allows for tenants to maintain their logistics activities, workshops, laboratories, and offices under one roof.
Logistical access to the floors is facilitated by 10 unloading docks for HGVs, as well as three hoists with a six-tonne capacity and four with a four-tonne capacity. The spaces also all have high ceilings of up to 6.9 metres as well as load capacities of 1,500 kg/sqm on the ground and first floor, and 1,200 kg/sqm on the upper floors.
RUBIX will be awarded with the High Energy Performance Label, and benefits from high-quality insulation and renewable energy sources, including the latest-generation photovoltaic panels covering 950 sqm. It will feature a ground floor restaurant and shops to cater to the site’s users and local community.
Johannes Gerzain, Head of Switzerland and Director of Asset Management at RE Capital, said: “As a firm, we place a special importance on working alongside our partners – whether co-investors, JV developers, or tenants – and we have found an excellent partner in GF Machining Solutions, for whom we adapted the architecture of the building. As we work towards completing the building in 2025, we look forward to working alongside GF Machining Solutions and other future tenants to create a world-class industrial space in the heart of Europe.”
Newman Leech, CEO of RE Capital, said: “Having set out to create a cutting-edge space for high-tech firms, that a global leader of the standard of GF Machining Solutions has decided to occupy more than 25% of RUBIX is a pleasing demonstration that we’re on track with our ambitions. RUBIX is a testament to our passion for creating the highest quality of buildings alongside our co-investment partners, as evidenced in the spaces we’re creating in our other main areas of activity, such as residential in Lisbon, and office and build-to-rent developments in London.”
