• First stage of Francuska Office Center to be completed in May
• GTC signed a lease in April with Nordea Bank
• More deals to be finalised shortly
Globe Trade Centre S.A. (GTC S.A.) signed a lease with Nordea Bank Polska S.A. for space at Francuska Office Center in Katowice. The bank, a member of the largest financial group in Scandinavia, has rented 500 sq m in the first building of the complex. The building is to be delivered to tenants in May.
Nordea Bank Polska S.A. has been present on the Polish banking market since 1999. The Nordea Bank location at Francuska Office Center will occupy 500 sq m.
Francuska Office Center is being built in central Katowice, at ul. Francuska 34. The first building in the complex offers a lease area of 11,000 sq m. The GTC project is an important element of the new business and service district that is developing in Katowice. The headquarters of many key institutions are located in the immediate vicinity of Francuska Office Center – local government, the regional court, and prominent Polish and international companies.
“Francuska Office Center is an excellent proposition for any firms seeking to establish a modern office in the capital of Upper Silesia,” said Katarzyna Pankiewicz, Director of Office Space at GTC S.A. “The smallest lease area is 100 sq m, which makes prestigious GTC offices accessible to small companies as well as large ones.”
Ultimately Francuska Office Center will include two six-storey Class A office buildings with a total rental area of over 21,500 sq m. The second building will be finished as the available space in the building is progressively leased. One of the strengths of the complex is the ability to develop a flexible arrangement of the plans for each floor, which can be used by one or more tenants in an open space plan or with individual offices. The area of a typical floor in Building A is 1,740 sq m. The complex will come fully equipped, with air conditioning, state-of-the-art telecommunications systems, professional security, suspended ceilings and tilt windows.
Francuska Office Center is located adjacent to public transit stops. The project is convenient for motorists (with direct access from ul. Francuska) and easily accessible for travellers on the A4 motorway and national route 86 linking Warsaw and Bielsko-Biała. Katowice International Airport, at Pyrzowice, is about a 25-minute drive. The underground parking garage at the complex offers spaces for about 400 vehicles.
Francuska Office Center was designed by the renowned Polish architectural studio APA Wojciechowski in cooperation with the Katowice office of Stabil. The project features high-quality finishing. The glass façades are trimmed with light stone, giving the complex an attractive appearance and providing excellent access to natural light in the interiors.
The last finishing touches are underway at the first building at Francuska Office Center, along with roadwork around the development. Construction will be finished in May 2010.
GTC is conducting advanced negotiations for lease of the remaining space at Francuska Office Center.
GLOBE TRADE CENTRE S.A. (GTC S.A) is one of the leading developers in the New Europe and was established in 1994 in Warsaw. Currently it operates in 10 countries: Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Ukraine and Russia.
GTC develops projects in three key real estate sectors: office buildings, retail and entertainment centres, and residential.
GTC has developed about 750,000 sq m of net space and currently is the owner of completed commercial properties with a combined net area of about 455,000 sq m. GTC also holds an impressive portfolio of new investments at various stages of development, which will facilitate the construction of 1.8 million sq m of commercial and residential space. GTC’s total assets exceed EUR 2.6 billion.
GTC’s shares are listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange in the prestigious WIG20 index. The company’s shares are also included in the international MSCI index and Dow Jones STOXX Eastern Europe 300 index, as well as the GPR250 index, which comprises the 250 biggest and most liquid real estate companies in the world. Among GTC’s shareholders are many of the biggest Polish and international institutional investors.