Globe Trade Centre S.A. (GTC) has chosen HOCHTIEF Polska, Kpis-Cracovia Branch as the general contractor for the Francuska Office Center, to be built at 34 Francuska Street in Katowice.

The Francuska Office Center is a complex of two six-storey office buildings (A – 11,000 m2 and B – 10,500 m2) of a combined space for lease of 21 500 m2. The Center will be developed on a plot of 7200 m2, perpendicular to Francuska Street in the very center of the city, close to the new seat of the Katowice Higher Court.

One asset of the Francuska Office Center will be the proximity of public transport, and also the very good communication with the A4 motorway and national road no. 86 connecting Warsaw and Bielsko-Biała. The International Airport at Pyrzowice is 25 minutes away by car.

HOCHTIEF Polska will co-operate with GTC for the third time in the construction of office buildings; former joint projects were GLOBIS Poznań (handed over for use in 2003) and Globis Wrocław, the construction of which is just being completed in Wrocław.

We are pleased to co-operate with HOCHTIEF Polska on the execution of this investment, which is important for us. Our performance in joint projects till now gives us the guarantee that the building of the Francuska Office Centre is in the hands of good professionals,” says Director Piotr Kroenke, General Director of Globe Trade Centre S.A.

The FRANCUSKA Office Center has been designed by the architectural studio APA Wojciechowski. The buildings are based on a rectangular plan with small breaks. The glazed facade is supplemented with light stone and the high quality of the finishing elements ensures an attractive appearance for the complex and also first-class access to natural light.

The completion of building A is planned for the Q3 2009, and in the following quarter the construction of office building B will be finalised.

Both buildings (A – 11 000 m2 and B – 10 500 m2) will be fully equipped with air conditioning, modern telecommunications systems, high ceilings and swing windows. The buildings will also have a professional security system, and the underground car park will hold approx. 400 vehicles.

A typical floor in building A will have 1,740 m2, whereas in building B – 1,600 m2. The flexible spatial arrangement of the floors will enable one or several tenants to use the area either as an open space or a traditional office arrangement.

The leasing of the office space will be the responsibility of the international real estate market consultants Cushman Wakefield and Knight Frank.

The Francuska Office Center is the second investment made currently by GTC in Katowice, alongside the Moderna Apartments residential complex. Katowice is one of seven Polish cities in which the company is active, the others being Warsaw, Krakow, Poznań, Wrocław, Łódź and Częstochowa. Observing the potential and the prospects for further development in the real estate market in Katowice, GTC is planning its further involvement in the city and is in fact working on the next project – an office building on Mikołowska Street.