Apple is expanding its footprint in Switzerland by leasing approximately 9,500 square metres of office space in a newly renovated complex on Flurstrasse in Zurich-Altstetten. The commercial building belongs to the UBS real estate fund Sima, which highlighted the arrival of an internationally active tech tenant in a newsletter.
Zurich Complex Expansion Sits on UBS Real Estate Fund Sima
The newly secured real estate sits within a 26,000-square-metre total footprint managed by the UBS-affiliated fund. According to Daniel Stocker, head of market research at real estate advisor JLL, the 9,500 square metres of leased floor plate can comfortably house between 500 and 700 desks. UBS calculates that a full occupancy of the entire complex yields roughly 6 million Swiss francs in annual rent, putting Apple’s yearly lease obligation above 2 million Swiss francs.
Machine Learning Roles Anchor the Expansion
Apple has maintained a public headcount of about 600 people in Switzerland since 2016, a figure largely tied to marketing and sales, including four local retail stores. Yet, the engineering reality in Zurich looks different. Ever since acquiring local startup Faceshift in 2015, the company has operated research and development functions in Zurich. The current hiring push features roughly 20 open research and development roles centered on machine learning.
Vision Lab Development Follows Financial Times Revelations
This physical expansion builds on moves reported by the Financial Times in 2024, which detailed that Apple was building an AI team in Switzerland and had established a “secretive European laboratory” in Zurich. Teams inside this “Vision Lab” focus on advanced AI models capable of parsing and synthesizing both text and imagery.
UBS declined to comment on individual tenants, and Apple did not respond to inquiries regarding the Zurich-Altstetten lease.
