You can find material on the announcement here: PM Moxy Aarau
Pensimo, the owner of the "Aarauerhof", and the hotel operator "The Chocolate on the Pillow Group" announce the start of the project for the first Moxy Hotel in Aargau. Moxy, a brand of Marriott International, will move into the well-known building at Aarau train station after a comprehensive modernization and extension. The study contract with eleven Swiss architectural firms was launched in January. The winning project will be chosen at the beginning of July 2025.
It is now clear who will be moving into the “Aarauerhof”. From 2028, the international operator group “The Chocolate on the Pillow Group” (COTP) will open the fifth Moxy Hotel in Switzerland – the first in the canton of Aargau – in the historic building on Bahnhofplatz. Until then, the owner of the property, the Turidomus investment foundation, which is part of the Pensimo Group, will invest around 25 million francs in modernizing and extending the building.
“We are delighted to have a successful operator on board in COTP and a top brand in Moxy Hotels,” explains Alexander Büchel, the portfolio manager responsible at Pensimo.
The Moxy Aarau will offer 145 modern rooms on around 3,750 square meters. On the first floor, guests will be welcomed by the reception with public areas such as a trendy bar and cozy lounge café. An event room and a fitness area are planned for the basement.
“With the Moxy Aarau, we are implementing another exciting project together with Marriott and are looking forward to continuing our expansion in Switzerland,” explains Erik Florvaag, CEO and Managing Partner of The Chocolate on the Pillow Group.
“With this new hotel, we were able to secure a special location. Thanks to its central location right by the train station and inviting design, the Moxy Aarau will appeal not only to travelers but also to the local community and set new accents in the city.”
With the ninth Moxy Hotel of the multi-brand hotel operator, “The Chocolate onthe Pillow Group” is taking a further step in its expansion strategy and underlining its commitment to creating a modern atmosphere for a new generation of travelers. Moxy Hotels is part of the US hotel group Marriott, which redefines the hospitality experience with its industrial design, lively social spaces and special programming. The young and modern Moxy brand stands for style and functionality. In Switzerland, the brand is already present in Bern, Lausanne, Rapperswil and Sion and scores with inviting social hubs and clever guest solutions.
In the first half of 2025, the owner of the property, in which a hotel with self-check-in is currently being operated for a limited period, is conducting a study commission with a total of 11 teams of architects. The aim is to come up with a project design that does full justice to both the prominent location and the requirements of a contemporary hotel business. “We don’t want a new building,” explains Birgit Hattenkofer, Head of Development at Pensimo. This is not desirable from an ecological point of view – a new building releases significantly more climate-damaging CO 2 than a refurbishment.
“Rather, the teams should show how as much of the existing substance as possible can be used and how the building can be extended.”
The winning project is to be chosen in the summer and the planning team selected.
The winning project from the study commission will form the basis for a
design plan, which will include provisions on the fit and quality of the development, open space, energy and noise protection. The owners anticipate at least two years of planning time before the building permit becomes legally binding. This means that, in the best-case scenario, construction can begin in 2027 and the new hotel can open at the beginning of 2029 after a construction period of around two years. So a little patience is still required before the new hotel once again becomes a meeting place in the station district.
You can find material on the announcement here: PM Moxy Aarau
The Chocolate on the Pillow Group stands for a portfolio of over 20 hotels in the DACH region. With over 750 employees, the Group operates hotels under the brands of the international hotel operators Accor (Novotel, Mercure, ibis Styles, ibis, ibis budget, TRIBE, the hoxton), Marriott (Moxy, Four Points Flex by Sheraton) and Intercontinental (Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express). Founded in 1994, the hotel group, most recently known as the GHOTEL Group, has set itself the task of setting new standards for hospitality with state-of-the-art hospitality concepts and aims to revolutionize the way hotels are managed. As an expert partner for institutional investors, private investors and joint ventures, The Chocolate on the Pillow Group, in close cooperation with Art-Invest Real Estate and the Zech Group, covers the entire value chain from hotel construction, planning and realization to hotel operation.
The Aarauerhof has a rich history. In 1895, the hotelier and landlord Hans Gerber opened the “Gerber Terminus”, which quickly became the social center of Aarau. After the end of the First World War, the commercial society of the time rescued the ailing hotel and brought it back to social prosperity. In 1972, the Swiss architect Justus Dahinden designed a new building in the style of post-war modernism, which took into account the changing needs of a hotel and restored the building’s social significance. In 2020, the Aargau pension fund acquired the building, which had in the meantime become the property of the restaurant operator ZFV, and in 2022 transferred it to the Turidomus real estate investment foundation managed by Pensimo, the current owner.
Pensimo invests in real estate as an independent service provider for Swiss pension funds. To this end, it manages three foundations for direct investments in Switzerland, one for indirect investments abroad and the listed real estate fund Swissinvest. For over 80 years, Pensimo has been managing its investors’ real estate investments in a risk-conscious and reliable manner on the basis of clear product, portfolio and investment strategies, making them fit for a sustainable future. For the management of its properties, it maintains a partnership with the regional Regimo companies. Pensimo’s mission is to achieve stable long-term returns, value retention and a climate-adapted portfolio.