S+B Gruppe: focused on Central Europe

In Warsaw - first a hotel, then...
At the end of 2010, S+B Gruppe finished the construction of the Zebra Tower office building in Warsaw. A few months later, in February 2011, the building was sold for EUR 76 mln. The buyer was the Union Investment fund. In May, S+B Gruppe decided to take over the unfinished System hotel at ul. Wspólna 72, buying the property from Kraków-based developer Salwator. It changed hands for a mere PLN 5,000, but the acquisition also involved taking on the EUR 10 mln debts of the former owner. The 55m tower has an area of 12,500 sqm. Since then the company has been considering a number of different options for how best to utilise the building. There was talk about changing its function - from a hotel to an office building - and even about making it taller. However, the Austrian developer finally decided to go ahead with a project for which a building permit already existed. The planning stage has now come to an end, and, as representatives of the company have announced, construction work is soon to start. A contract is to be signed in the next few weeks for Hampton by Hilton hotel to be built, offering 300 rooms and 50 parking spaces, as well as three conference rooms, with the opening planned for September next year. Piotr Bujanowski, with whom S+B Gruppe cooperated on the Zebra Tower office building, is the person responsible for the architectural concept of the hotel. Investment costs for the project are estimated at EUR 40 mln. But this is not the end of the company's plans for Warsaw. S+B is planning another office building, which, according to information obtained by ?Eurobuild CEE', will probably be a small facility (with an area of 6,200 sqm) located on ul. Królewska, directly behind the Saski Crescent office complex. However, the company is as yet unwilling to provide detailed information about the project. "So far we are focusing on the construction of the hotel. As regards the project on ul. Królewska, I can only say that we are not the sole owner of the land and the design work is still at a very early stage," reveals Reinhard Schertler, the managing director of S+B Gruppe..
Restored to its former glory
S+B Gruppe also operates in the Prague, Bucharest and Vienna, markets in which it sees significant potential. "The Romanian market is bouncing back. However, this is mainly restricted to Bucharest. Interest is growing from tenants and this is fuelling our optimism. The situation in Prague is also rather good. Vienna, on the other hand, is in a completely different league - this market is very competitive and product really needs to be of the highest quality," claims Reinhard Schertler. The company is also currently finishing off two projects in Prague and Bucharest. The Qubix 4 Praha office building in Prague is being adapted out of a building erected in 1978. The planned building stands out due to its unique architecture - a cubist block made up of several "boxes" in an irregular composition, but one that gives the offices access to the spacious terraces that form part of the design. Once completed, it will offer a leasable area of nearly 12,000 sqm, nearly 3,000 sqm of which has already been leased to ABB, with the building itself nearly 50 pct leased. The EUR 35 mln investment should be completed in the middle of the year. In Bucharest the company has opted for another revitalisation project. After a seven-year battle with the local bureaucracy, the construction of an office building with a retail section on the ground floor is now nearing completion. Located on the Magheru boulevard, one of the most important shopping streets of Bucharest, the building, in the Romanian modernist style, is to be converted into a seven-storey facility offering a leasable area of app. 4,000 sqm. Tenants are currently being sought for the building. The area of the offices to be leased in the building start at 150 sqm, with rents starting from EUR 18-20 per sqm per month.
S+B Gruppe is also developing a project in Vienna, as well as hunting for attractive plots in the CEE region. "We are trying to carry out one project in each country, and apart from Vienna we are focusing on medium-sized projects in attractive locations, paying particular attention to green solutions. Our project in Prague has already received a LEED ?Gold' pre-certificate, but we are applying for the higher ?Platinum' certification. We continue to look for attractive land, but this is not an easy task - particularly in Warsaw, where we are considering a number of interesting areas in the Wola district. However, prices are still at a high level," comments Reinhard Schertler.