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CA IMMO and UBM receive sustainability certificate for Poleczki Business Park project in Poland
Construction phase two of Poleczki Business Park attracts LEED for Core & Shell pre-certification
The Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI) has conferred gold LEED for Core & Shell pre-certification on the second construction phase of the Poleczki Business Park project. The current section of the office complex in Warsaw covers two buildings (B1 and C1) that will provide a rentable effective area of 21,000 sqm. The structures are the first properties in Poland to be granted certification of this kind.
According to Dr. Bruno Ettenauer, Chief Executive Officer of CA Immo, “The pre-certification vindicates the high standards that we bring to construction development. It is important to us because it makes the quality of our buildings more transparent to the market and open to scrutiny.” At present, CA Immo has property assets worth around € 676 m on its core market of Poland, equivalent to some 13 % of the Group's total property assets.
For Karl Bier, the CEO of UBM Realitätenentwicklung AG, “Sustainable building is a question of cost-effectiveness rather than ideology. Water-saving fittings and energy-efficient facades, for example, make operating costs much lower than they would be on similar projects. UBM resolved to conserve resources many years ago – not because of environmental or social vanity or an irrational fear of climate change, but simply because energy costs are going up and sooner or later the tax system is going to reflect carbon dioxide production.”
Top quality building materials are being used in the construction of the Poleczki Business Park office complex. Construction of the two four-storey structures began in January 2011 and is proceeding so rapidly that phase two is now scheduled for completion during the second quarter of 2012. The fact that 25 % of the usable space has already been let shows that quality is the key to success, even in a tough market climate.
About the Poleczki Business Park
The Poleczki Business Park is being realised under the terms of a 50:50 joint venture between the CA Immo New Europe project development fund and UBM Realitätenentwicklung AG. A state-of-the-art office district is emerging on a site spanning some 140,000 sqm close to Warsaw Airport and adjacent to a motorway bypass currently under construction. The project – the largest of its kind in Poland – provides for the construction of 16 buildings in several construction phases. Phase one, which comprises two separate buildings, was completed towards the end of the second quarter of 2010 following a construction period of just under two years. Investment in the overall construction project is estimated at € 250 m.
LEED sustainability certification
LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is an international certification system for new buildings that aims to promote high standards of sustainable construction. Criteria such as the location and surroundings of a structure, utilisation of materials, electricity and water consumption, health and innovation aspects and the impact of the chosen construction method on nature are taken into account in the evaluation of buildings. According to the number of points scored, a construction project is awarded silver, gold or platinum certification.
About CA Immo
CA Immo was founded in 1987. The company develops and invests in commercial real estate (and in particular offices) in Austria, Germany and Eastern Europe. Taking account of properties worth some € 1.5 bn acquired through the takeover of Europolis, CA Immo's property assets at the start of 2011 stand at just over € 5 bn. The proportion of the Eastern and South Eastern European segment in the portfolio as a whole has expanded from around 19 % to over 40 %, bringing it onto a par with the German segment. CA Immo has been managing its development projects in Eastern Europe through the CA Immo New Europe (CAINE) project development fund since the end of 2006. CA Immo is listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange, with free float of around 83 % at the present time.
About UBM Realitätenentwicklung AG
UBM Realitätenentwicklung AG is a successful real estate and property developer active in Western, Central and Eastern Europe. The company, which was established in 1873, has branches in Bulgaria, Germany, France, Croatia, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Russia, Switzerland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Ukraine and Hungary. Business policy seeks to minimise risk and maximise asset value: profit is an opinion, cash is a fact. UBM shares trade on the Vienna Stock Exchange.