Bratislava Development Potential – Land Use Planning and the Real Estate Market

The new construction fever is seeing thousands and thousands of square metres of commercial and residential premises being built each year.

Nowadays Bratislava is one of the most sought after investment localities in Europe. Commercial properties in the city on the Danube are owned by big names like Heitman, Rodamco Europe, Hannover Leasing or Axa. Eight out of the ten biggest real estate transactions in Slovakia concern Bratislava.

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In Bratislava you can find world renowned developers like Ballymore Properties, which are accompanied also by strong Slovak players, which now have a hand throughout Central East Europe.

Prestigious consulting companies also have branches here, like CB Richard Ellis, Colliers International and King Sturge.

All segments of the property market are developing, but it is office space in particular that is doing best, and, next to flats, is the most developed market segment.

A boom is also being enjoyed by retail premises and shopping and leisure centres. Thanks to its unique position, Bratislava and the surrounding area is an ideal location for logistics warehouses.

The strong economy of the region also reflects in flat construction, with the Bratislava region producing almost one third of the annual total number of started and completed flats.

Until recently, Bratislava had no real estate trump card in sight. During the whole of the 1990s only one office complex was completed, comprising the four business Centres BBC I-IV on Plynárenská Street.

The big players bypassed Bratislava, and the so–called big six property consulting companies also had no representation in Slovakia. Yet it was this that enabled the growth of a strong group of developers from the domestic environment.

Companies like HB Reavis Group, J&T Real Estate, Cresco Group or IPR took advantage of the absence of foreign competition and so now their names are known also on a European scale. Today they are being driven forward also by competition from abroad, which now fully realises the immense potential of Bratislava.

What attracts them here?
Available space. Bratislava is probably the last major European city where there is still an abundance of potential construction sites available. Fantastic locations that until recently were not utilised, are now transforming into new city quarters, giving the Slovak capital a new character.

The new Land Use Plan of the city, which will be approved this year, identifies a total of 3,200 hectares of additional development land earmarked for the construction of flats, shops, offices and related infrastructure. This is the key competitive advantage of Bratislava in enticing foreign investors here, which practically no other European city can offer.

Bratislava has traditionally been the driving force in terms of the construction of new flats, easily outdoing all the other regions of Slovakia. The Bratislava region accounts for an increasing share of the total number of completed and started flats, making up almost one third in recent years. This is because the greatest demand for new housing is in Bratislava,ac­companied also by the greatest purchasing power.

There are just under 200,000 flats in Bratislava at present, but this number is fast increasing. The construction of new build projects is being orchestrated mostly by private developers. What’s more, the return on investment is fairly quick.

It is true that also in Bratislava there are companies that grew from small pawns into large companies. So now they can afford to deal also with large projects worth hundreds of millions, or even billions of koruna.

Whereas until recently blocks of flats built in Bratislava would mostly contain several tens of flats, nowadays there are many projects that count with hundreds or even thousands of flat units.

The other segments of the real estate market in Bratislava are also witnessing a golden era. The Slovak metropolis is a key transport hub of European waterways, railways, airways and roadways. Numerous companies have their base here, including the carmaker Volkswagen, which feeds also a whole range of sub-suppliers. Thanks to it, the logistics segment in the city and the whole surrounding area is doing particularly well.

In addition to logistics, the hotel sector is also witnessing a renaissance. Bratislava has a lot of tourist potential that is still not fully utilised. Bratislava’s trump card is in the area of congress tourism, where it is gradually becoming a significant European player. Hotel developers reacted on time.

The outcome is not only a good choice of three and four star business hotels, but also two planned five star hotels.

Both of them will be located along the attractive embankment area. The two hotels should be finished in 2009.

Do you know what?
… in the next five years almost 600,000 square metres of new office space will be created in Bratislava. …in 2009 two new five star hotels will be opened in Bratislava. …the new Land Use Plan of Bratislava has pinpointed 3,200 hectares of new development space for housing and civil infrastructure.

Source: © City of Bratislava
Mayor’s Office of Communications & Marketing
Primacialne namestie 1, P.O. Box 192
Bratislava, SK-814 99
Slovakia

Eurovea – Experience the Future! ****************** In the coming years the capital of Slovakia will significantly change its face. On an embankment of the Danube River there will spring up a new centre of Bratislava, which is to be one of the most state-ofthe-art centres within the whole Central and Eastern Europe.A new centrepiece location for the city, the International Trade Centre Eurovea is to be built by the Irish developer Ballymore Properties. The first phase of the project will see a dynamic multifunctional municipal quarter spring up with high quality architecture and a public area (with a total area of 230,000 square metres). The new zone of the town will offer exclusive residential, shopping and office areas. A five star hotel, casino, multiplex with eight cinemas as well as a three dimensional cinema IMAX, areas for free time, sports and amusement are going to appear. A new central square, which will form an area for cultural and social events and arts activities, will be integrated into the premises. Thanks to its location near the new building of the Slovak National Theatre it will become the cultural heart of Bratislava. Eurovea is one of the biggest investment projects not only in Bratislava, but also within the framework of the wider central European region. The municipality has been trying to achieve urbanization in this part of the Danube River embankment for decades. Thanks to the project Eurovea the town centre will be extended from the historical core as far as the Danube River and Bratislava will finally use the full potential of its position on the second longest river in Europe. The shopping centre will be called ‘Pribina Galleria’,which has been designed as a multistoried high street. Thanks to the concentration of shopping and gastronomic facilities as well as free time areas, it will become the main shopping and resting centre of the highest standard. The planned investment costs should exceed 10 billion Slovak crowns (approx. 300 million EUR). The deadline for completing the construction has been planned for the year 2009. Developer: Ballymore Properties Flats: 240 (next 1,000 in Phase 2) Hotel: Five star Sheraton, 207 rooms Parking places: 1,729 Volume of investment: EUR 300 million Completion date: 2009 III Towers – A New Vision of Life *************­******** Interesting investment projects are being implemented also in localities outside the centre of Bratislava. In the urban neighbourhood of Nové Mesto (New Town) a unique residential complex III Veže (III Towers) is springing up. Three harmonious ellipse buildings will offer comfortable, functional and flexible living. More than 200 flat units in various lay-outs and sizes from 40 to 220 square metres will be available in each tower. Entrance space into individual buildings will be designed in a style of hotel foyers. All common areas will be continuously monitored by a security service as well as by a camera system. A car-parking space in the underground of the residential complex is a part of each flat. More than 70 metres high, the 24-storey towers have been designed by the Slovak architect Peter Moravčík in co-operation with well-known Chicago architects from the design and planning firm Solomon Associates. The developers of the project are a Slovak company Cresco Group and an Irish – American joint venture Quinlan Private Golub. The construction of the complex for 1.7 billion Slovak crowns (approx. 50 million EUR) started in 2006, and should be completed in spring 2009. A four-storey sub-structure, from which the high-rise buildings are springing up, will be fulfilling the shopping and relaxation function. It will include a shopping arcade, cafes, restaurants and rooms for family celebrations. There will be fitness centres on the fifth floor in each of the residential towers. A relaxation zone with parks accessible only for inhabitants of the complex will spring up on the roof of the sub-structure. There is a great interest in flats in III Towers on the part of foreign clients, in particular of those from Ireland, Great Britain and Austria. Their proportion buying flats should reach as much as 60 %. Developers: Cresco Group & Quinlan Private Golub Flats: 633 Parking places: 837 Volume of investment: EUR 50 million Completion date: 2009 Vienna Gate – Queen of the Right Riverbank *************­*************** Although the developers are particularly attracted by the left bank of the Danube River – thanks to its vicinity in the historical centre of Bratislava, remarkable projects are starting to be implemented also on its right bank. The most impressive of them is the multi-functional complex Vienna Gate. Two tower buildings designed as an opening gate are heading skywards at the Kopčianska street in the urban neighbourhood of Petržalka, not far from the railway station and the state border to Austria. The developer is the company MEI Slovakia. It has invested 1.6 billion Slovak crowns into the project (approx. 48 million EUR). Completion of the structure is planned for August 2008. The complex consists of a 23-storey apartment tower named Vienna and a 16-storied flat building Gate, which will rise from a three-storied substructure. Shops, cafes, restaurants, bank branches, law office, notary’s office, dentist, chemist’s, relaxation and fitness centre, children’s park and other services will be placed in the substructure. An underground two-storied car park with washing equipment will be part of the complex. Altogether 296 flats and apartments will be built within the complex. High grade services of reception will go without saying, from the possibility to order breakfast, through to the cleaning of clothes. On the highest floor of the Vienna tower there will be a sight-seeing coffe house accessible also for the public. Developer: MEI Slovakia Flats: 296 Parking places: 340 Volume of investment: EUR 48 million Completion date: 2008 Panorama City – The “Twins” of Bratislava **************** Bratislava is soon going to have a new architectural dominator. Within the project Panorama City, two high-rise buildings are going to spring up which bear a close resemblance with the destroyed Twin Towers in New York City. After having been completed the monumental towers with a planned height of 135 metres will be the highest buildings in the either the Slovak or Czech Republics. In professional circles there is even speculation about the height being above 150 metres. The project Panorama City is a part of the new centre of Bratislava on the embankment of the Danube River. It is implemented near the Eurovea project, the new building of the Slovak National Theatre, and high-rise building Tower 115. The construction of Panorama City started in May 2007 and should be completed during 2011. The investor is the company J&T Real Estate, and the planned investment costs should reach 9 billion Slovak crowns (approx. 265 million EUR). The author of the project is a world-famous Spanish architect Ricardo Bofill (he has designed for example the headquarters of the companies Christian Dior, AXA and JPMorgan). In Panorama City there will be 450 high grade flats located from the 6th to 39th floors, administrative and trade areas, wellness zones, a 25 meters long swimming pool, spas and a four star hotel. A square and a park will also be integrated into Panorama City, and 1,147 car-parking spaces in three underground floors will be available for the inhabitants and the visitors. Developer: J&T Real Estate Flats: 450 Hotel: Four star, 170 rooms Parking places: 1,147 Volume of investment: EUR 265 million Completion date: 2011 By SK Magazine Photo: Fotolia, Graphic visualizations of Panorama City: J&T Real Estate

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