LifeScience in Kraków
PM Group and Ekocentrum have been appointed to oversee the design and construction of the first phase of a new biotech park in Kraków. The value of the investment is estimated at 14.6 [zł 50] million and construction has already begun.
Jagiellonian University's LifeScience Biotechnology Park project will be the first real estate product for the commercial life-science market in the CEE region. It is expected to provide high-class office and laboratory infrastructure to host businesses from the biotechnology and biomedical sectors. The complex will comprise three interlinked buildings whose total space will amount to approximately 25,000 sqm.
The university hopes the LifeScience project will create a regional research hub accommodating approximately 500 scientists and scholars. "This is a chance to launch and develop high-tech biotechnology and biomedicine enterprises. The development may attract big companies from the United States and Western Europe," said Pawel Błachno, president of the Jagiellonian Centre of Innovation, the university-run enterprise responsible for the LifeScience project.
"This project will deliver new scholarly and scientific quality which will reinforce Poland's economic position," he added.
The first stage is scheduled for completion by the end of this year. It will feature 6,000 sqm of high-quality office space and laboratory facilities. The LifeScience park will be located in the Kraków Special Economic Zone, allowing it to take advantage of significant tax benefits.
The architectural design was developed by IMB Asymetria - best known for its flagship Galeria Kazimierz shopping center project in Kraków.
Both companies responsible for the first phase of the development boast an extensive portfolio of completed infrastructure developments. PM Group, established in Dublin in 1973, is a leading engineering consultancy in Ireland. It has been successfully operating in Poland since 1997. Apart from LifeScience Park, it is currently managing development projects for Dell and LG Philips.
