Warimpex Finanz- und Beteiligungs AG has taken a crucial step forward with its St. Petersburg development project: the City of St. Petersburg has now issued the building permit for the first phase of project development. In an 85:15 joint venture with St. Petersburg Airport, Warimpex is working on the development of a business park ('Airportcity') to be erected on a 62,000 m² site at the international Pulkovo 2 Airport.
 ))
The Crowne Plaza Hotel in Airportcity.
After two years of intensive development work, Warimpex can now embark on the first construction phase, encompassing a four-star hotel operated by an international hotel chain (300 rooms and 1,600 m² of conference facilities) plus three office buildings with some 40,000 m² of net lettable floor space. The total investment costs of this phase will amount to approximately 120 million. Warimpex plans to erect further office buildings with a net lettable area of 50,000 to 60,000 m² in a second construction phase. The Airportcity St. Petersburg project is the largest real estate development project in Warimpex' company history.
"Modern office space is scarce in St. Petersburg; we have observed a trend towards large areas outside the historical centre. At the same time, the city's conference and business tourism industry is becoming established, but high-quality hotels outside the city centre are rare. The Airportcity site is located in one of St. Petersburg's key development areas," remarks CEO Franz Jurkowitsch, describing the market situation. Regarding the significance of the project for the Warimpex Group, he says: "The Airportcity is the largest investment project we have ever undertaken. After two years of preparatory work, we can now present a first-class development project. With professional real estate funds becoming stakeholders in this project, Warimpex is set to advance to the top league of European real estate companies."
Warimpex Finanz- und Beteiligungs AG expects this large-scale project to contribute positively to the company's success. Investors interested in acquiring an equity participation in this project as soon as the building permit was granted already signed a letter of intent at the beginning of August. The transaction could be finalised by the fourth quarter of 2007.
Source: Warimpex
