Skanska goes south with Atrium project
Jan Sulek of the Wola District said Skanska was the only company prepared to develop the site. He would not say what other firms had entered designs. The design still has to be voted on by the Centrum municipal authorities.
The estimated cost of developing the complex is $140 million, Falkenius said. He added that the co-investors from the Atrium project, like the French Caisse Des Depots et Consignations, have expressed interest in financing for Atrium South.
The proposed project will be built in three parts. The first would include a 230-room, four-star hotel. Falkenius said selection for an operator for the hotel is expected to begin this year.
The second phase is 25,000 square meters of retail space, pedestrian arcades and a multiplex cinema. The final phase is a 16-story office tower.
"We are determined to start construction this fall," Falkenius said.
He said construction will coincide with construction of phases C and D of the Atrium project.
First tenants at FIM
The delay-ridden FIM tower opened its doors recently to the first tenants. David Young, director of Wood & Co., said the move came three months late. Wood had signed a contract to move into 140 square meters on the 21st floor in November. But Young is glad to be able to get down to business.
"It's a pleasure coming to work now," he said.
The delay in Wood's moving day was a result of a string of financial problems for the FIM developers last spring. Unable to move in on time, Wood saw its space at the LIM Center slowly pulled out from under it as its lease ran out.
"It was like they were chopping pieces of wood off us. We ended up as a toothpick," Young said. Wood's investment consulting and research business was affected by FIM delays, he said.
Though the dust is still settling from last-minute construction in much of the new 15,000-square-meter FIM towers, 80% of the space has been leased, said Mariusz Kania of Unikat, former exclusive brokers for the tower. Four floors are still unclaimed.
"We welcome anyone who wants to pay the $45 per square meter," Kania said. The price is not negotiable, he added.
The FIM looks set to become Warsaw's main investment banking center. New tenants include CS First Boston, HSBC Investment Bank and Union Bank of Switzerland.
Construction on
Nowy Swiat booms
Construction workers almost blew up ul. Nowy Swiat, but the remodeling of Warsaw's historical shopping street is on schedule.
Construction, which began Feb. 1, was halted for two days when crews ruptured a natural-gas pipeline they didn't know was there. The gas seeped into neighborhood buildings and several families had to be evacuated.
Nowy Swiat renovation is expected to be completed by the end of May, said Tomasz Szawlowski, director of the Warsaw city road department. Plans call for replacing water, gas and telecommunications connections under the street and narrowing it to two lanes of traffic from four.
The new design is expected to be a boost for local retailers and cafés who will be able to use additional sidewalk space for business. But window shoppers and café goers will still have to contend with fumes from buses and taxis traversing the two-lane artery downtown. The price tag for the project is more than $400,000 and covered by the Warsaw city budget.
The estimated cost of developing the complex is $140 million, Falkenius said. He added that the co-investors from the Atrium project, like the French Caisse Des Depots et Consignations, have expressed interest in financing for Atrium South.
The proposed project will be built in three parts. The first would include a 230-room, four-star hotel. Falkenius said selection for an operator for the hotel is expected to begin this year.
The second phase is 25,000 square meters of retail space, pedestrian arcades and a multiplex cinema. The final phase is a 16-story office tower.
"We are determined to start construction this fall," Falkenius said.
He said construction will coincide with construction of phases C and D of the Atrium project.
First tenants at FIM
The delay-ridden FIM tower opened its doors recently to the first tenants. David Young, director of Wood & Co., said the move came three months late. Wood had signed a contract to move into 140 square meters on the 21st floor in November. But Young is glad to be able to get down to business.
"It's a pleasure coming to work now," he said.
The delay in Wood's moving day was a result of a string of financial problems for the FIM developers last spring. Unable to move in on time, Wood saw its space at the LIM Center slowly pulled out from under it as its lease ran out.
"It was like they were chopping pieces of wood off us. We ended up as a toothpick," Young said. Wood's investment consulting and research business was affected by FIM delays, he said.
Though the dust is still settling from last-minute construction in much of the new 15,000-square-meter FIM towers, 80% of the space has been leased, said Mariusz Kania of Unikat, former exclusive brokers for the tower. Four floors are still unclaimed.
"We welcome anyone who wants to pay the $45 per square meter," Kania said. The price is not negotiable, he added.
The FIM looks set to become Warsaw's main investment banking center. New tenants include CS First Boston, HSBC Investment Bank and Union Bank of Switzerland.
Construction on
Nowy Swiat booms
Construction workers almost blew up ul. Nowy Swiat, but the remodeling of Warsaw's historical shopping street is on schedule.
Construction, which began Feb. 1, was halted for two days when crews ruptured a natural-gas pipeline they didn't know was there. The gas seeped into neighborhood buildings and several families had to be evacuated.
Nowy Swiat renovation is expected to be completed by the end of May, said Tomasz Szawlowski, director of the Warsaw city road department. Plans call for replacing water, gas and telecommunications connections under the street and narrowing it to two lanes of traffic from four.
The new design is expected to be a boost for local retailers and cafés who will be able to use additional sidewalk space for business. But window shoppers and café goers will still have to contend with fumes from buses and taxis traversing the two-lane artery downtown. The price tag for the project is more than $400,000 and covered by the Warsaw city budget.
