Press Release
Prague, 29 February 2012
IMMOFINANZ Group develops
outstanding office building in Prague 1
Ten years after its entry into the Czech Republic as a real estate investor the
Austrian-based IMMOFINANZ Group now proves its commitment to its northern
neighboring market by intensifying its commercial development activities. The
first development will be the refurbishment of a historic building right in the
heart of Prague’s Old Town, in Jindřišská 16. Construction works have recently
started and are scheduled to be finalized in July 2013. The investment amounts
to EUR 24.6 million.
“We bought this building together with Lordship in a 50:50 joint venture from CSOB in
January 2006”, says Eduard Zehetner, Chairman of the Executive Board of
IMMOFINANZ Group. “In order to have clear responsibilities we acquired Lordship’s
share last year. With full control over this development we will ensure the project to be
realized in due time and budget – for the benefit of our investors”, Zehetner adds
pleased about the future prospects of the project. The full takeover of Jindřišská 16
also marks another milestone of the consequent realization of IMMOFINANZ Group’s
strategy to develop non-controlling interests into majority holdings or to sell these
investments.
Top quality prestigious office building in Prague’s City Centre
Jindřišská 16 is located in the heart of Prague’s city center close to Wenceslas
Square in vicinity to the Jindřišská Bell Tower. The premium business location and its
outstanding accessibility by all three metro lines, several tram lines and Prague’s
most important train stations are the project’s most valuable assets.
The architect of the reconstruction and new extension is the respected Prague-based
atelier DaM architects. “Jindřišská 16 is one of many historic places in Prague’s
heritage city center built at the beginning of the 20th century that have been neglected
for decades. It is a great honour for us to contribute to the revival of this exciting
building”, says Richard Doležal, partner of DaM architects. “Our design work was
mainly driven by the idea to create a future-oriented, sustainable office environment
benefiting from the charm of the historic building stock and the architectural and
technological state-of-the art renewals.”
The refurbishments design emerged in close cooperation with Prague’s heritage
department and protects all important original architectural elements such as the
facade of the building, the inner structure of the historical part, the representative
staircases, the windows, the fittings, etc. Together with the new state-of-the-art
structure all these reconstructed genuine parts will give Jindřišská 16 a unique
character and atmosphere.
After completion Jindřišská 16 will offer 6,800 sqm of “Class A” office and retail space
in the historical and the new part of the property and an automatic parking system.
The building’s flexible floor plan layout will make it possible to choose between
cellular or open-plan offices. “Our aim is to develop high-end office and retail space in
Jindřišská 16 meaning that the attractiveness does not end with the architectural
design. On the contrary: We want to offer our tenants an addressing, comprehensive
service package,” explains Ralph Bezjak, Head of Developments Commercial of
IMMOFINANZ Group, the company’s strategy. “We will therefore ensure highest
building standards by using best materials and implementing state-of-the-art
technologies. A sophisticated building management system guarantees full
transparency of operating costs based on individual monitoring and metering of all
office units and common areas.”
Jindřišská 16: A green office oasis in the heart of Prague
The beautifully designed lobby of Jindřišská 16 will welcome tenants and visitors in an
elegant atrium with a breath-taking green wall. This vertical garden will consist of
more than 5,000 living plants enhancing the air quality with fresh oxygen and natural
humidity. The coexistence of stone, glass and the green wall reflects the philosophy
of sustainability and the harmony of history with current energy saving requirements.
Besides, the feelgood factor of office buildings is continuously gaining importance. An
increasing number of people enjoy morning jogging or riding their bicycles to work.
The answer of Jindřišská 16 to this trend is a bicycle storage, showers and lockers
that meet the high expectation of even most demanding tenants.
The building is aiming for LEED Gold certification, which supports tenants’ CSR
(Corporate Social Responsibility) agenda and competitive service charges. The LEED
pre-certification is already on-going.
“We have been in the real estate business for more than 20 years. The experience
gained during this time helps us to realistically assess new developments. We are
convinced that our development project Jindřišská 16 will be a success: The property
is located right in the heart of Prague and its architecture combining a historical
façade with state-of-the-art, sustainable interior construction and technology will be
most appealing for companies searching prestigious offices with a high comfort level,”
summarizes Zehetner the advantages of IMMOFINANZ Group’s latest Czech
development project.
JINDŘIŠSKÁ 16
KEY FACTS
Location
Jindřišská 16, Prague 1, close to Wenceslas sq.
Accessibility
Subway lines A, B, C and tram lines
300 m from the “Magistrála”, Prague’s main arterial road
short walking distance to the train stations, Hlavní
Nádraží and Masarykovo Nádraží
Rentable area offices
6,000 sqm
Rentable area retail
800 sqm
Number of parking spaces
24 (automated parking system)
Smallest office unit
190 sqm
Office layouts
open space plan or intelligent cellular layout as per
individual tenants requirements
Construction start
02/2012
Planned construction end
07/2013
On IMMOFINANZ Group
IMMOFINANZ Group is one of the five largest listed property companies in Europe and is included in the leading ATX
index of the Vienna Stock Exchange. Since its founding in 1990, the company has compiled a high-quality property
portfolio that now comprises more than 1,600 standing investment properties with a carrying amount of approx. EUR
8.7 billion. The core business of IMMOFINANZ Group covers the acquisition and management of investment
properties, the realisation of development projects and the sale of objects. IMMOFINANZ Group concentrates its
activities in the retail, office, logistics and residential segments of eight regional core markets: Austria, Germany,
Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Poland and Russia. Further information under: www.immofinanz.com.
On DaM architekti
Architectural office DaM spol. s r.o. was founded in 1990 by two partner architects - Richard Doležal Dipl.Arch.
ETH/SIA and Ing. Arch. Petr Malinský, currently operating with four more partners-architects: Petr Burian, Jiří Havrda,
Jiří Hejda and Jan Holna. The atelier is located in Prague and its team consists of 30 in-house architects and civil
engineers. During the last 25 year DaM architects have prepared and realized various kinds of important designs and
constructions both in Czech Republic and Switzerland. Among their most significant designs and constructions in
Czech Republic belong for instance: Boscolo Hotel Carlo IV (five-star hotel, reconstruction of neo-renaissance palace
with a new annexes, Prague 1), several stages of the Prague Castle reconstruction with renovation (residency of the
president of the Czech republic), president Vaclav Havel villa extension in Prague 6, EURO Palace office building,
Philadelphia office building and others. DaM architects also realized the production building of ROLEX Watch
Company in Biel or forestry high school in Lyss, both in Switzerland.
For additional information contact:
Sandra Bauer
Head of Corporate Communications | Press Spokesperson
IMMOFINANZ Group
T +43 (0)5 7111 2292, M +43(0)699 1685 7292
communications@immofinanz.com
or
Martina Jašková
Director of PR
PR Agency – Graffitti Networks
M +420 777 578 732
martina@gng.cz
Richard Doležal
Architect / Partner
DaM architects
T +420 244 464 761, F +420 244 466 372
dam@dam.cz