Austrian partners secure financing for Airportcity St Petersburg

Oao Avielen, a joint venture of the Austrian real estate investors Warimpex, CA Immo and UBM, have signed a EUR 60 mln loan agreement with a Polish bank consortium, securing the completion of a Crowne Plaza hotel and modern office buildings at Airportcity in St Petersburg.

The bank consortium is headed up BRE Bank and also includes the state-owned Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (BGK) and Raiffeisen Bank Polska. The loan is secured by a guarantee from the Polish Export Credit Insurance Corporation (KUKE SA).

'This financing package shows that these banks are confident about the success of our project, and will make it possible for us to complete Airportcity in St Petersburg on schedule,' said Georg Folian, Management Board member at Warimpex and president of the supervisory board of Oao Avielen AG.
'What’s more, the return of positive conditions to the Russian market confirms our strategy of countercyclical investments in St Petersburg and other Russian cities.'

Airportcity St. Petersburg is located close to Pulkovo 2 international airport in St. Petersburg. 'The planned expansion of St Petersburg airport will bring further impetus for the site in the next few years, and will benefit our project as well,' said Bruno Ettenauer, CEO of CA Immo.

The four-star Crowne Plaza hotel, which will be operated by the InterContinental Group starting in mid 2011, is the only hotel located directly at the airport.
In addition to the hotel, the Airportcity complex will also be home to three modern office buildings with a total area of 39,000 m². The 21,000-m² building shells directly next to the hotel have already been built, and are set to open in late 2011.

UBM CEO Karl Bier: 'The situation in the new Russia is much better than we expected. The local firms are qualified and have well trained employees. Also, the local government has successfully implemented economic reforms. So I'm sure that the remaining 18,000 m2, where the shell has also already been set up, will be completed on time in 2012.'