Warimpex Finanz- und Beteiligungs AG has completed its development projects in St. Petersburg and Budapest and handed over the office spaces to the tenants.
The Zeppelin office tower at AIRPORTCITY, St. Petersburg, was developed by ZAO AVIELEN A.G. - a joint venture between the Austrian real estate developer Warimpex, CA Immo Group, and UBM. It is located in close proximity to ‘Pulkovo 2’ international airport, and is the first premium-class business centre at this location.
The complex comprises a four-star Crowne Plaza hotel, three modern office buildings with a total lettable space of approx. 31,000m². The two fully towers from the first construction phase, Jupiter 1 and Jupiter 2, with approx. 16,800m² of space were sold in March 2015. ZAO Avielen A.G. won two Commercial Real Estate Awards for the best multifunctional project and as the best developer in the region, shortly after the opening of the Crowne Plaza hotel and the Jupiter business centre.
In Budapest, Warimpex also signed a long-term lease last year with the leading Hungarian insurance company Groupama Garancia Insurance Private Co. Ltd. – a Hungarian branch of the international Groupama Group – for 12,250m² of space (of the 14,500m² in total) in the Erzsébet office building. With this transaction, Warimpex concluded one of the largest leases seen on the Hungarian office market in recent years. The signing of the lease also marked the start of the renovation of the building complex.
Erzsébet Office Budapest is located on the Pest side of the Danube and consists of two office buildings, buildings A and B, that were originally built in the 1960s. Warimpex purchased the building complex in 2006 and subsequently started a comprehensive renovation. Building B (7,200m²) was renovated first and has been fully let out since 2008. The renovation of building A has now been completed and the office spaces handed over to the tenant. This renovation is currently one of the only major office construction projects in all of Hungary that was not publicly financed. The building offers roughly 14,500m² of lettable space in total, and 85% of this, or 12,250m², has already been let out to Groupama. Tenants are being sought for the remaining space.
“For us as an investor and developer, it’s always especially nice to take a project from the initial idea to the groundbreaking ceremony and all the way to the moment it’s handed over to the tenants,” explained Warimpex CEO Franz Jurkowitsch. “These completions will also have a positive impact on our revenues from office buildings (Investment Properties segment) in the second half of 2015.”
