- Provident Polska has extended its current lease agreement for over 4,000 sq m at Gdański Business Center in Warsaw until 2026.
- The complex, which is managed by Savills Investment Management, offers 101,000 sq m of space in total.
Warsaw, 28 January 2021 – Savills Investment Management (Savills IM), the international commercial real estate investment manager, has prolonged the lease agreement for the Gdański Business Center office park in Warsaw. The company that decided to extend the agreement for another 5 years is Provident Polska SA.
Provident Polska SA is a financial institution that is a cash loan market leader and is part of the International Personal Finance Group. The company has been with Gdański Business Center since the park opened its doors, i.e. since 2014. The offices of Provident Polska are located on two floors of Building GBC A and occupy an area of over 4,000 s qm. In the negotiations the tenant was represented by international consulting company Colliers International.
Julia Racewicz, Senior Asset Manager, Savills Investment Management, commented:
“Excellent location, high quality office space and a wide range of additional services – these are the assets of Gdański Business Center that our tenants have valued for many years. Since 2014, one of them has been Provident Polska – a company that has recently decided to continue this cooperation for the next few years. This is a great honour for us and a proof of trust, for which I am grateful.
The fact that we have managed to finalize the agreement with Provident Polska in the time of the pandemic makes us even more happy and confirms our belief that traditional offices still play an extremely important role on the labour market. Many of our current tenants are of a similar opinion, so I am convinced that we will soon be able to report further successes of Gdański Business Center.”
Małgorzata Wojtuszko, Head of Procurement and Property Department, Provident Polska, said:
“During the development of the strategy for Head Office, we have analyzed multiple scenarios together with our partner, Colliers. As we operate in an industry heavily affected by the pandemic, cost optimization was the key factor. In addition, the smooth transition of almost all employees of the main office to remote work mode over one weekend and the rapid adaptation to the new type of work inspired us to rethink the purpose and function of the office. We carried out a workplace study, and the conclusions were clear – while conceptual, individual work is more effective at home, we still want to meet and work in teams, for workshops, and to maintain close relationships with our business partners. This new, hybrid style of work requires flexible space in a convenient location. That is why, under the “One Office” project, we have combined our three existing Warsaw locations (including an IPF Group company) into one location which is the best in our view – Gdański Business Center. By reducing the area of our Warsaw offices by 50%, we have also increased the comfort of cooperation of the employees of all units that used to be dispersed around the city until recently. We believe that the decision to continue the 7-year-long successful cooperation with Gdański Business Center for the next 5 years is very beneficial not only from the financial point of view, but it will also provide a state-of-the-art and friendly workplace for our employees.”
Paweł Skałba, Senior Partner, Director of Office Agency at Colliers International, added:
“This is yet another time that we had the pleasure to represent Provident Polska in an office lease transaction, but this time the circumstances were quite unprecedented. The pandemic has caused many companies to change their approach to the function of the office and redefine the use of space, and yet they do not give their offices up. The office is more than just a place of work: it is also a tool for building corporate culture and an important element of the fight for talents; an environment that stimulates interactions and creativity. Companies make their office-related decisions based on their long-term strategies, not a temporary market tumble, which is why the number of contract renegotiations on the office market will continue to grow.”
Gdański Business Center is a modern complex consisting of four class A office buildings situated in the center of Warsaw. The investment was completed in 2014 (phase 1) and 2016 (phase 2). Apart from the office space, Gdański Business Center also features restaurants, a café, a beauty salon, a preschool, Zdrofit fitness club and a medical centre, with a courtyard with greenery and hard landscaping available to the general public. Tenants of the complex can also use terraces situated at higher storeys of the buildings. The investment offers 1,379 underground parking spots, 76 on-grade parking spots, and biking infrastructure with 416 bicycle racks, changing rooms and showers. The tenants of the complex include, among others, Provident Polska, KPMG, Aviva, Philip Morris, Euronet, KMD, Uber, Nielsen, Dell.
Gdański Business Center is located right next to the Dworzec Gdański subway station and Warszawa Dworzec Gdański railway station. Near the complex there are also several bus and tram stops and city bike rental points, which guarantees excellent transport opportunities to other districts of Warsaw. The nearby Gdański Bridge makes it even easier to commute to the right-bank part of Warsaw. There are numerous facilities in the vicinity of the complex, including Westfield Arkadia shopping center.
Awarded a BREEAM Excellent environmental certificate, the investment was purchased by Savills Investment Management on behalf of a global pension fund.