At present, there are more and more complexes on the domestic market performing many functions at the same time. It frequently considers a combination of offices with commercial and service space. However, there are a lot of complexes where apartments are also realized within an investment, e.g. exclusive apartments or hotels. Multifunctional projects can have a form of a one building or they can be located in several separated structures making one complex. They are often realized on areas located outside the very heart of a city center. Why?
Firstly, it results from comparatively limited availability of building lands located in city centers. Secondly, it is due to big concentration of commercial or office structures situated in such places. It is not sometimes worth following the scheme of multifunctionality, just like in the case of classic office corridors with a shopping center nearby. However, in case of a development in residential or industrial area, where no office and retail schemes are available, sure, it is worth developing mixed-use projects to make the office workers all the necessary amenities available – Tomasz Lisiecki, Chief Investment Officer of TriGranit, says. In general, there are numerous benefits in mixed-use project – for developers it creates higher property value, for office workers these projects offer great reach to various type of services in one place, for communities, a mixed-use development can provide not only a new, recultivated area, but a new city center at the same time – Lisiecki adds.
Plot is not everything
Next to the potential and development conditions of building lands, the realization of multifunctional investments requires a developed strategy, just like in the case of TriGranit. TriGranit has always been known for so called mixed-use developments, or city centers. We prefer building a kind of city center that creates a new district in the life of the community and a new city center – Tomasz Lisiecki says.
The concept of city center envisages building of a shopping mall around which e.g. office investments are realized. Bonarka City Center is implemented in accordance with this concept and it includes a shopping mall and six existing offices. At present, the building G is under construction. As a target, the investment will be composed of ten office structures class A (A-J) with the total space amounting to around 95 000 sq. m. Bonarka City Center was not our first and only city center project envisaging creation of a city center – Chief Investment Officer of TriGranit says. After completing two buildings in Budapest – Polus Center in 1996 and Westend City Center in 1999, the company developed Polus City Center in 2000 in Bratislava. The fourth multifunctional project of TriGranit in Central Europe is Silesia City Center – the building realized 11 years ago in Katowice. What’s more, three of these developments are brownfield developments, which means recultivating and revitalizing of an abandoned land, boosting the areas’ economy and rejuvenating the local community. But all this extra efforts are worth it – all of our brownfield developments are still today one of the most popular and successful city centers in their given region, the city’s society – Tomasz Lisiecki adds.
Is it therefore an important factor that determines a greater interest in renting office space in this rather than in another investment?
It’s a much more complex question. Sure, the amenities offered to the tenants are of great importance. From this point of view, a mixed-use project offering after-work entertainment and shopping facilities or a midday lunch is an added value for office workers – Tomasz Lisiecki says. However, the expectations of the tenants for reasonable maintenance costs are just as important. We can see a need for higher but at the same time reasonable facility management services, aiming at higher and higher standards. The green solutions and buildings efficiency are fundamental aspects nowadays, the clients want to get great value for their money. As there is an oversupply on the office market, tenants can choose from lot of alternatives, and of course, they will choose that option, that offers the best value for money solution for them – Tomasz Lisiecki emphasizes.