Record deal in Ochota

Europolis Lipowy Office Park and Bank Pekao have concluded the largest office space lease transaction in Poland's history. The bank has leased all of the office space in Lipowy Office Park, which is currently being constructed on ul. Żwirki i Wigury in the capital's Ochota district. The complex will provide a new headquarters for Bank Pekao when it is completed at the turn of 2009. The transaction was brokered by CB Richard Ellis and Jones Lang LaSalle.

"We have been looking for a location that would fully address the needs of as large an organization as Bank Pekao in terms of ergonomics and economics, and which would simultaneously support the bank's image as one of the largest financial institutions in Central Europe," said Jan Krzysztof Bielecki, president of the board of Bank Pekao. He added that the deal was bound to improve working conditions for the bank's 1,800 employees after the difficult process of Bank Pekao's merger with part of Bank BPH.

Designed by the AMC - Andrzej M. Chołdzyński architectural studio, Lipowy Office Park will comprise four class-A office buildings developed around an inner square. The complex will be equipped with modern building management and security systems and will include both above-ground and underground parking lots. Each of the buildings will feature four elevators. The project is being developed by Hochtief Development Poland.

Europolis Lipowy Office Park, the owner of the complex, is part of the Vienna-based Europolis Bank AG. The company manages a portfolio of 40 properties located in Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia and Ukraine. Europolis has been present in Warsaw since 2002.