September 2012: Construction works of a modern 48- metre office block begin. Half of the space is going to be occupied by Alma Market JSC and its subsidiaries. We are developing a 14-storey building which will be characteristic thanks to its innovative elevation. According to the initial plans, we are going to make it available in May 2014 – declares Peter Obernhuber, member of the management board at UBM Polska. The building will be constructed by PORR. Although initially the office block was to be developed by Alma Development, UBM Polska LLC undertook this task in 2012.
LEED certified building
The office block, called Alma Tower, will offer 10.000 sq. m. of class “A” office space, and its lessees will be provided with 180 parking places. Works on the construction site are proceeding: presently, the site is being secured according to the LEED regulations, as the investor is going to apply for the certificate and is ambitiously aiming at the Platinum status, the highest one possible. This entails the necessity to come up with numerous low-energy, ecological solutions.
In order to meet the LEED requirements, the project includes, among other, the creation of 50 bicycle parking places, showers and dressing rooms for their users, as well as 6 spots for LEV vehicles (Low-Emitting and Fuel-Efficient Vehicles). The investor has also chosen appropriate bathroom fixtures, which will help reduce the water use by 40%. Energy use is going to be reduced by 25% thanks to motion detectors installed in lavatories and parking lots as well as full electric metering of the building. The office block will emit 30% less carbon dioxide than traditional buildings.
Following LEED requirements, all materials used in the construction will be ecological and safe. The design of the building enables natural sunlight entry, which is another factor making the office block a comfortable and stimulating working place.
Convenient localisation
Alma Tower is located in the direct vicinity of Rondo Młyńskie and Meissera Street, 4 km (2.5 miles) away from the centre of Cracow and 2 km from the Central Railway Station. Such convenient localisation is yet another competitive advantage of the building. Professionally constructed and easily accessible, the office block will constitute a very good working place, attractive for the potential lessees – states Monika Sułdecka-Karaś from the Knight Frank agency in Cracow, responsible for the commercialisation.
There are 16 bus lines in the proximity of Alma Tower.
From the lessees’ perspective
Good localisation of the building, combined with interesting design and a large-office-space shortfall in Cracow, result in considerable interest for our investment – informs Bartosz Pająk, Regional Director, UBM Polska LLC.
Alma Market JSC signed a 10-year lease agreement. Presently, other potential lessees are negotiating leases. They can lease any module of the office space, of which the smallest have 200 sq. m., the average floorage per storey being 780 sq. m.
The building may be attractive for potential lessees due to its high-quality, guaranteed by the LEED certificate. The office block will boast low-energy HVAC system and large, tilt-turn windows. Round-the-clock security service, monitoring and fire system make it a perfectly safe working place. It is also highly representative with its prominent main hall. The building boasts dripped ceilings and raised access floors as well as Cat 6 network cabling with fiber-optic cables which contain no electrically conductive components.
Why Cracow?
UBM’s investments are realised in Warsaw, Cracow, Wrocław, as well as Vienna and Saint Petersburg. The Warsaw investments are mostly connected with hospitality real estate, e.g. Andel’s Hotel, Radisson Blu Hotel and Park Inn Hotel. UBM has also developed a dwelling house – Villa Galicja. Alma Tower is the company’s first office project in Cracow.
The investor realises the city’s potential and is planning on new investments of this kind. The company is interested in a building plot located at close proximity of Alma Tower, planning the construction of Alma Tower II. Both the latest project and Villa Galicja are located in the Prądnik Czerwony district. UBM seems to appreciate the district’s location not far from the city centre and good infrastructure. The company’s further investments could boost the quality and number of office space to lease in Cracow, which currently constitutes the largest office market in the region.