POLAND Okre Development, which had until recently been operating as E&L Real Estates, has a number of completed projects, mainly office and residential developments, under its belt after seventeen years of operating on the market. After a period of preparing new projects, the company is back in the game. It is planning to start the construction of Green Wings Offices in Warsaw soon, while an office building on ul. Grójecka, also in Warsaw, is in the pipeline, as well as the next stage of the Na Skraju Lasu estate in Poznań.
Green Wings takes to the air
Okre Development has also bought land with a building permit on ul. 17 Stycznia in Warsaw, close to the city?s airport. ?Everything is ready. We are starting the construction in September this year. According to our plans it will take 18 months and we will start handing over the offices to tenants in May 2014. We are in the process of finalising the contract with the general contractor,? reveals Ronnie Richardson, president of the management board of the company. Green Wings Offices, which will be a class A office building with an area of 10,850 sqm, will have seven above-ground floors each with an area of 1,600 sqm, as well as a car park for 270 vehicles on three underground levels. The company has also employed a number of ecological solutions, with the result being that the building is BREEAM pre-certified at the Very Good level. All the offices will have access to natural light. Moreover, the building will be equipped with control systems, lighting, heating and cooling, a two-stage air filtration system, access control and BMS. Our building will offer bicycle parking, changing rooms and showers. The project is also designed for tenants who work continuously, such as those involved in business process outsourcing, adds Ronnie Richardson. He also points out that the architectural design of the building resembles outspread wings. It was drawn up by the JEMS Architekci architectural studio. The façade of the building will resemble openwork razor blades. Green Wings Offices is at a preliminary stage of commercialisation, which is being carried out by Cushman & Wakefield and NAI Estate Fellows.
Grójecka waiting in the pipeline
Even though the company has some experience in retail development, it usually focuses on offices and apartments. Okre Development?s plans include another office building in Warsaw, which is to be built on ul. Grójecka and has been designed by the APA Kuryłowicz & Associates architectural studio. ?We have the planning permission and should have received all the necessary documents by the end of 2012 and will start construction at the beginning of 2013. We expect that the building will be finished in 2015, says Ronnie Richardson. The office building will have a leasable area of 7,300 sqm. Preparation work is currently underway for the project.
The company is also planning to extend its residential property portfolio. It should have completed the construction of the first stage of the Na Skraju Lasu estate, near the Żurawiniec reservation in Poznań, by the end of December. The estate offers 32 apartments, 80 pct of which have now been sold with the keys to be handed over next February. Katowice-based firm Elektrobudowa is responsible for the construction work. In the meantime, the second stage of the project is to start. This comprises the construction of another 47 apartments, which are already on sale. Once this phase is completed, the company will start preparation work on its third stage. In addition to this, Okre Development is the owner of a 16,000 sqm plot on ul. Na Skraju in Warsaw's Włochy district, where it is also planning to build a residential estate with 96 apartments.
Projects that have been completed by Okre Development in Poland include: Jerozolimskie Business Park in ?Warsaw (16,500 sqm of office space), Jutrzenki Business Park in Warsaw (2,700 sqm), Winogrady Business Center in Poznań (7,300 sqm of office space) and Galeria Indomo in Lubin (9,600 sqm of retail space) as well as the Park Residence residential building in Warsaw. Okre Development is also the owner of two commercial buildings with a combined area of 7,500 sqm, both located in Poznań. ?The main shareholders of the company are two Belgian companies: Koramic Real Estate and Otreco.
