Swedish construction and development firm Skanska sees a promising future for more green buildings in the Czech market, in particular in Prague and Ostrava, Britta Cesar, managing director Skanska Property Czech Republic, told PropertyEU in an interview.
Swedish construction and development firm Skanska sees a promising future for more green buildings in the Czech market, in particular in Prague and Ostrava, Britta Cesar, managing director Skanska Property Czech Republic, told PropertyEU in an interview.
'There will always be a demand for the right products, and what we see is that the right products for us are green products. These will be increasingly interesting for investors and tenants in the future,' Cesar said.
Last week, Skanska announced that its Czech subsidiary is undertaking a new green office project in Prague to be named City Green Court. The seven-storey, 15,000 m2 office will be located in the Pankrac business district in Prague 4, which is accessible by car as well as a range of public transport. Project commencement is scheduled for the end of 2010 and the first tenants are expected to move in during H1 2012.
Particular attention is being paid to City Green Court's sustainability, with Skanska aiming to achieve a LEED Gold qualification. 'We have a clear vision to be the leading green developer. We are committed to sustainable development on all our markets and all our projects in the commercial development team will be LEED certified,' Cesar said.
Cesar cited the strong experience with LEED from Skanska's US operations as a motivating force of the company-wide adoption of the certification system. In April Skanska launched what is expected to be the first LEED office development in Wroclaw in western Poland.
With no new offices being delivered on the Prague market in H1 2010 City Green Court represents one of the initial steps toward a return to development. With financing for City Green Court's development coming entirely from the Skanska group's balance sheet, the company is well poised to capitalise on the expected shortage of prime office space in Prague resulting from the recent development slowdown. 'As we want to be the pioneers in green development we also want to be the first ones to deliver LEED projects. And Skanska’s strong financial position gives us the possibility to invest in those kinds of projects,' Cesar said.