BRATISLAVA 2008

NEW HOT SPOT OF CENTRAL EUROPE

CITY OF BRATISLAVA, 2007

CONTENT

2 4 6

Bratislava History, Facts and Figures

Bratislava Vienna, Twin City Region

Areas of Life in Bratislava Local Government Budget Transport and Infrastructure Education, schooling, healthcare and social assistance Culture, environment and leisure time

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Bratislava development potential land use planning and the real estate market Real Estate Market in Bratislava Office Space Retail Premises Housing Other Segments

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Selected Projects EUROVEA River Park Twin City Regeneration of Central Train Station Square III Towers and South City Petralka City Other Key Projects in Preparation

1. BRATISLAVA HISTORY, FACTS AND FIGURES

Bratislava, the capital of the Slovak Republic, lies at the heart of Central Europe. It spans both banks of the River Danube, and lies at the foot of the Little Carpathian range. Bratislava sits at the border with three countries, Hungary to the south, and Austria and the Czech Republic to the west. Covering almost 368 square kilometres, it is officially home to more than 425,000 residents. Even though Bratislava is one of the youngest capital cities in Europe, it is the site of more than two thousand years of history. With its rich tradition it can easily be compared to any major European city. The location of the city right at the heart of Europe on the banks of the River Danube predestined Bratislava to become a crossroads and destination of various trade routes and a mixing pot of various cultures.

DID YOU KNOW THAT ...

...Bratislava was the coronation venue of kings for almost 300 years?

DISTANCE FROM BRATISLAVA (km)

Area: 367.9 km2 Population: 425,459 Location: 177E, 489N Altitude: 126 514 m above sea level

Oslo 1,705 km

Stockholm 1,735 km

Helsinki 1,724 km

Saint-Petersburg 1,806 km Moscow 2,104 km

The first traces of a permanent settlement here date from the late Stone Age. It was the Boii Celtic tribe, however, that had put the site of Bratislava on the historical map, in the 2nd century BC. The Romans also took advantage of the strategic location of the area, building up military camps on the site of todays Bratislava. During the movement of nations Bratislava was settled by the Slavs. They established several unions or principalities in the territory of Slovakia, the best known of which was the Great Moravia Empire. At the end of the 10th century, the Kingdom of Hungary was created, which in various semblances was preserved up until the end of World War I. During its existence Bratislava experienced an era of great success and temporary decline. In the 13th century it was granted royal privileges. It underwent an important period at the turn of the 14th and 15th centuries during the reign of Sigismund of

Luxemburg. By his decree from 1405, Bratislava was classed as a free royal city. In the following centuries, the kingdom was besieged by the Turks. After the occupation of the capital Buda at the time, in 1536 Bratislava became the new metropolis of the kingdom as part of the Habsburg Monarchy. Bratislava became the seat of the king, the archbishop and the other most important institutions in the kingdom. Last but not least, it was the coronation city. In the period 1536-1830 a total of 11 kings and 8 queens were crowned in St. Martins Cathedral. In the 18th century Bratislava became the largest and most prominent city in the whole kingdom. This century saw numerous grandiose palaces of the aristocracy being built, the castle was reconstructed and extended, new streets appeared and the population quadrupled. The whole city pulsed with a bustling cultural, social and

economic life. Its greatest boom was seen under the reign of Maria Theresa (1740-1780). After the World War II, the city was plunged into the sombre era of socialist Czechoslovakia. Bratislava was not freed from this grip until the dismantling of the communist regime in November 1989. The inability of the political elite at the time to reach a compromise led to the split of former Czechoslovakia, which ceased to exist at the stroke of midnight on the last day of 1992. On 1 January 1993 Bratislava became the capital of the Slovak Republic. In the years to come the city would undergo major restoration, especially the historical city centre. The Slovak capital entered the new millennium as a promising progressive place. Nowadays, Bratislava is a strong and respected European region with extraordinary development prospects.

Edinburgh 2,171 km

Dublin 2,550 km Amsterdam 1,273 km London 1,602 km

Copenhagen 1,394 km

Berlin 644 km

Warsaw 631 km Kiev 1,288 km

Brussels 1,182 km Paris 1,266 km Bern 887 km

Prague 324 km

Vienna - 62 km

Budapest 196 km

Ljubljana 414 km

Zagreb 335 km

Belgrade 542 km
C ITY O F BR A TI S LA VA

Madrid 2,261 km Lisbon 2,802 km

Monte Carlo 1,222 km

Cannes 1,268 km Rome 1,314 km Athens 1,886 km

Istanbul 1,473 km

2. BRATISLAVA VIENNA, TWIN CITY REGION

DID YOU KNOW THAT ...

...a tram ran between Bratislava and Vienna at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries?

Bratislava and Vienna have had strong ties since living memory. Not only in terms of their geographical proximity (60 km part), which is unique in Europe, but also in terms of their shared historic past. The relations of these two cities are fairly active. An official partnership was signed by officials of both capitals back in May 1993, which was reaffirmed also ten years later. Bratislavas co-operation with Vienna is carried out via various cross-border co-operation projects, as well as on a bilateral and multilateral level. Both cities are partners in implementing the Euroregion project CENTROPE, as part of which they exchange information about tourism, the natural environment or transport infrastructure. Yet, the co-operation between Bratislava and Vienna has much greater potential than has been utilised to date. Both cities are central points in the so-called Golden Triangle, made up of the Euroregion BratislavaViennaGyr. This region was appraised by a study from the institute Empirica Delasasse from Cologne as the most prospective region of 461 evaluated regions in Europe. The study took into consideration factors like qualification of the workforce, costliness, density of production, environmental quality, transport potential, or the density of services. The Twin City model empowered by the close proximity of Bratislava and Vienna holds unbelievable hidden potential. To combine forces in the shared economic area of Vienna-Bratislava is the principal idea of the chambers of commerce on both sides of the border. This concept has, fortunately, been welcomed also by the city halls of both cities. The platform was assigned the name of Twin City, a brand which should be the distinctive calling card not only of the two cities themselves, but of the whole Central European region around the Danube. With the extension of the Schengen line, the border will vanish even more. The Twin City area of ViennaBratislava will enjoy great success

in terms of competition as a production locality with other European agglomerations, if it strengthens further its economic integration and the forces of both cities are united. It is businesses above all that must breathe life into this platform. Austria and Slovakia are natural economic partners. Austria is the third biggest foreign investor in Slovakia, the fifth biggest importer and the fourth most important export destination for Slovak products. A large part of mutual trade between the two countries, as much as half according to OECD estimates, occurs in the region around Twin City. The spirit of Twin City is enhanced also by smaller investments, coming more at present from Austrian businesses in Bratislava than vice versa. The brand of Twin City is being promoted also by the Twin City Liner, which shuttles regularly between the two cities along the Danube, and by the magazine Twin City Journal, which the local governments of both cities co-operate on.

Black Sea Adriatic ports

CENTRAL EUROPEAN REGION TWIN CITY VIENNA - BRATISLAVA

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3. AREAS OF LIFE IN BRATISLAVA

Andrej urkovsk (48) is in his second term of office as Mayor of Bratislava. In last years elections he retained the post well ahead of other contenders. He has been active in municipal politics for seventeen years now. From 1994 to 2002 he was the local mayor of Star Mesto borough. He was originally a designer, having graduated from the Building Faculty of Slovak Technical University.

3.1. STRUCTURE OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Bratislava, the capital of the Slovak Republic, is governed by elected local government bodies. The City Mayor is the highest representative of the city executive. The highest legislative power in Bratislava falls to the eighty-member City Council. This local government structure has been in place since 1990. Bratislava is split into 17 boroughs. The largest of them is Petralka, which is home to almost 120,000 residents. The boroughs are independent legal entities that manage their own assets and budget. Each borough has its own borough mayor, local borough office, and local council. The number of councillors depends on the size of the borough and its population. The Mayor of Bratislava is elected by residents directly by way of communal elections. The winner of the election is the candidate that receives most votes. The Mayors term of office is four years. The Mayor has City Hall at his/her disposal to arrange the expert, administrative and service-related activities. The staff of City Hall are professionals with no political bias. City Hall is run by its director. The Mayor is represented by his deputies, who are appointed by the City Council. They are proposed by the Mayor from the ranks of the City Council councillors. The City Council is made up of 80 councillors. They are also elected by city residents for four years. The City Council usually convenes once a month. Its main duty is to prepare and approve municipal legislation, so-called generally binding regulations or ordinances. The City Council is also responsible for approving the city budget, the closing account of the city, and the land use plan, as well as managing the citys assets.

DID YOU KNOW THAT ...

... the first known mayor of Bratislava by name was Jakub from 1280?

CITY BOROUGHS 17
Name Star Mesto Podunajsk Biskupice Ruinov Vrakua Nov Mesto Raa Vajnory Devn Devnska Nov Ves Dbravka Karlova Ves Lama Zhorsk Bystrica unovo Jarovce Rusovce Petralka Area (km2) 9.6 42.5 39.7 10.3 37.5 23.7 13.5 14.0 24.2 8.6 10.9 6.5 32.3 18.6 21.3 25.6 28.7 Population 42,241 19,977 69,674 18,996 37,040 20,357 4,331 1,005 15,629 34,540 33,559 6,447 2,492 919 1,227 2,163 114,862
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DID YOU KNOW THAT ...

... the Bratislava region produces more than a quarter of Slovakias GDP? ... more than a quarter of Bratislavas budget is spent on municipal public transport?

General public services 3.01 % Public order and safety 0.73 % Economic area 65.07 % Enviromental protection 15.15 % Housing and civil amenities 1.49 % Recreation, culture and religion 8.22 % Education 0.20 % Social care 6.13 %

CURRENT EXPENSES
General public services 31.52 % Public order and safety 3.53 % Economic area 31.67 % Enviromental protection 16.95 % Housing and civil amenities 3.79 % Recreation, culture and religion 4.38 % Education 3.79 % Social care 4.38 %

3.2. BUDGET
The City of Bratislava is operating in 2007 with a balanced budget of almost six billion koruna ( 175 million). More than SKK 1.2 billion ( 35.0 million) of this is earmarked for investments. More than a tenth of the budget is used for social services, cultural, recreational and leisure projects. A large part of Bratislavas budget is spent on environmental protection. In terms of capital expenses, it is more than 15 percent, while in terms of current expenses it is even two percent higher. In total more than a quarter of all the money from the budget goes toward public transport, for the benefit of residents and visitors alike. Public transport is operated by Dopravn podnik Bratislava (DPB), which is 100% owned by the city. Bratislava also has direct shares in another sixteen companies. In addition to the public transport company, other strategic companies include those that deal with waste disposal and treatment, the supply of drinking water and sewerage management. The Bratislava region accounts for about a quarter of the GDP in Slovakia, even though it is the smallest of all eight official Slovak regions. The regional gross domestic product per capita in the Bratislava region exceeded SKK 512,000 ( 12,100) according to 2003 data. Compared with the rest of Slovakia, the economy of the Bratislava region is twice as productive. The generation of GDP in Bratislava is influenced mostly by tourism, trade and IT (27%), banking (23%) and industry (22%). More than 60 percent of all direct foreign investments coming to Slovakia are directed at the Bratislava region. There are almost 19,000 trading companies economically active in the city, 26,000 legal entities and 46,000 sole traders. The unemployment rate in Bratislava is just 2.1 percent, which is six times less than the national average. Several industrial centres have developed in and around Bratislava. An international automotive industry cluster has been created, comprising the Bratislava car plant of Volkswagen, the PSA plant in nearby Trnava and the many related supplier companies. There are also fairly strong chemical, foodstuff and electro-technical industries here. On the other hand, Bratislava is the only Slovak region in which the services and trade sector accounts for a much greater portion of the GDP than industry. More than three quarters of the population of Bratislava work in the tertiary sector, which is comparable with advanced regions of other EU member states. This is also thanks to the efforts of the current management of city hall to make Bratislava a white city, meaning a centre of education, research, sophisticated services and light industry, all being promoted in place of heavy industry. The largest employers in Bratislava include Volkswagen, Siemens, Slovak Telekom, Henkel, Kraft Foods, IBM, Orange, T-Mobile or E.ON. The city is now also home to many other prestigious companies such as Microsoft, Enel, Accenture, Deloitte, Lenovo, Tesco or Carrefour. The financial sector is also strongly developed here. In the Slovak capital you will find subsidiaries or agencies of major European banking houses, such as UniCredit, Citibank, KBC, Intesa, Erste, Dexia or Raiffeisen, or the insurance giants Allianz and ING, for example.

3.3. TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURE

Transport in Bratislava is made up of a complex system of all means of transport by rail, road, air and water. The Slovak capital is a key international transport node in terms of public, freight and passenger transport. The network of thoroughfares has long been founded on a radial-circular system. This arrangement is becoming increasingly important due to the sharp rise in the number of vehicles on the roads. Today Bratislava can without doubt be referred to as a city of automobiles. There are approximately 200,000 cars registered in the city alone, which translates as one car per two Bratislava inhabitants. Bratislava invests greatly into public transport infrastructure. The city administers all the roads in its territory with the exception of motorways. The largest investment in this area in recent years has to be the construction of the Apollo bridge, which cost more than four billion koruna. Apollo is the fifth bridge in Bratislava to connect the parts of the city divided by the River Danube. More than 270,000 vehicles cross five Bratislava bridges in both directions each day. In the middle of the next decade the motorway bypass around Bratislava will be complete, effectively helping resolve the traffic situation in the Slovak capital. Municipal public transport in Bratislava has been operating since 1895. The city transport company provides this service using a network of buses, trolleybuses and trams. The tramway itself is still only present on the north bank of the Danube, but as part of the new Core transport system, representing the biggest new age investment activity of the city, the tramway network will spread also to the other side of the river, to the largest city borough of Petralka. Public transport is used by around 60 percent of commuters. The Bratislava transport company DPB conveys more than 250 million passengers a year. Thanks to its excellent position on the River Danube, Bratislava is also an important point on the network of European waterways, especially following the construction of DanubeMaineRhine channel. Bratislava has passenger ports and freight docks. Bratislava is also part of the international air traffic system. The value of the M.R. tefnik Airport has been growing rapidly in recent years. The number of passengers going through the airport has increased by tens of percent y/y, and astoundingly has almost quadrupled in the past three years. According to prognoses, in 2010 some 4.5 million passengers will use Bratislava international airport. The construction of a speedway between Bratislava and Vienna airports is one of the top priority infrastructure projects in the near future. The concept of twin airports would give a new international dimension to the airports in terms of the number of runways. Bratislava is also an important railway hub, with five railroads entering the city. The railway connection between Bratislava and Vienna has greatly grown in importance over recent years. The planned electrification of a five-kilometre strip between the Devnska Nov Ves borough of Bratislava and Marchegg in Austria will further enhance the links between the two cities on the Danube.

CAPITAL EXPENSES

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3.5. CULTURE, ENVIRONMENT AND LEISURE TIME

Bratislava is a historic city, which has grown out of its past as a free royal coronation town. At that time it was known as Pressburg, Preporok or Pozsony. The spirit of its past can be felt in every step. In the historical city centre you can find amazing pastel-coloured palaces, built by European nobility. Visitors will enjoy the many reconstructed fountains from times long gone, gothic churches, romantic narrow alleyways and one of the most stunning old squares in Central Europe. Even so, it is still a fairly undiscovered destination by tourists and so you do not have to suffer the stampede of tourists often found in other European cities, not even in the peak season. Visitors to Bratislava are not here just for the historical monuments, but also for the rich range of cultural and entertainment possibilities. Classical music lovers will love it here, for instance, with a night out at the opera of the Slovak National Theatre, where world-renowned artists the likes of Edita Gruber, Lucia Popp or Peter Dvorsk grew in stature. The Slovak National Theatre ballet or Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra are also extremely popular, as are the many museums and galleries.

DID YOU KNOW THAT ...

... Bratislava has eight universities with thirty faculties attended by over 50,000 students?

DID YOU KNOW THAT ...

... the Bratislava pedestrian zone The Korzo is said to be the most northerly Mediterranean-type promenade?

3.4. EDUCATION, SCHOOLING, HEALTHCARE AND SOCIAL ASSISTANCE

Historically, Bratislava has always had a strong density of quality educational institutions. They guarantee the further advancement of top level science and research and also provide the region with a pool of various experts. Bratislava has traditionally been the university city of Slovakia. It is home to 8 separate universities with around thirty faculties, attended by more than 50,000 students. The tradition of university education in Bratislava goes back to 1465, when the first university Academia Istropolitana was founded. The oldest modern university in the city is Comenius University, which was established in 1919. Bratislava universities cover all areas of science and research, including economics, information technologies, legal sciences, humanitarian sciences, social sciences, medicine, art and natural sciences. University education is complemented by a strong network of elementary and secondary schools. It is thanks to such a high concentration of universities and colleges that Bratislava is a young city with an average age of just 36. Healthcare in the Slovak capital is catered for by an extensive network of out-patient facilities, hospitals and other medical facilities. The most prominent of these include the Faculty Hospital, which at the same time prepares also students of medicine for their future careers. The city leaders put great emphasis on health. Proof of this is in the realisation of the declaration of Healthy City Bratislava, in connection with which the city is focusing on improving the natural environment and the health of residents, and on improving their lifestyle. At the heart of social services that the city provides is the provision of care in old folk homes and guesthouses. Whats more, it also provides shelter housing for families and those leaving orphanages. The capital allocates subsidies to organisations that help the people of Bratislava solve their social problems and for a symbolic rent it rents out premises to non-governmental organisations that help the homeless.

Favourite events of visitors from both home and abroad include the Bratislava Music Festival, devoted to classical music, or the Bratislava Jazz Days, which speaks for itself. The Wilsonic festival of progressive music has also developed an avid following. Large outdoor events always meet with great enthusiasm, like the Coronation Celebrations or the New Year celebrations, which are on a par with similar mega events in other cities of Europe. Somebody once coined the phrase Partyslava to describe Bratislava. A major attraction, especially in the summer, is the excellently reconstructed historical centre of Star Mesto, which can be compared to one big open air restaurant. Tourists say that the relaxed atmosphere is reminiscent in some way of coastal town. The cuisine is based on traditions stretching back to the days of the monarchy: it is not so much typical Slovak cuisine,

but rather Pressburg cuisine, with various Slovak specialties. Following the complete revitalisation of the Danube embankment, which will see some fascinating property developments, the centre will be extended and enriched. The whole embankment will be dominated by a promenade, which will lead along the River Danube practically over the full length of the city. Bratislava is greatly influenced by the natural features of its territory. The natural environment of the city has excellent recreational potential, in particular thanks to the Little Carpathian forests to the north of the city and the Danube watercourse in the south. There are around four thousand hectares of green areas in the city, three quarters of which can be found in Bratislava forest park - Lesopark, which offers plentiful space for relaxation, regeneration and hiking and sporting activities.

There are 110 square metres of inner-city greenery per person living in Bratislava. The many public parks in the city are extremely popular, especially Horsk Park and Sad Janka Kra. The latter, which once carried the name Aupark, is situated on the south bank of the Danube and was established in 1775, making it one of the oldest municipal parks in Europe. Bratislava is an environmentally aware city. Household waste in Bratislava is dealt with using a state-of-the-art incinerator, which satisfies the strict EU emission limits from 2006.

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4. BRATISLAVA DEVELOPMENT POTENTIAL LAND USE PLANNING AND THE REAL ESTATE MARKET

tre, the castle and the area below the castle, together with other protected heritage sites. A specific position is held by the dockland area. The hub of the new plans is the area on the north bank of the Danube between The Old Bridge and The Harbour Bridge. Bratislava will also develop outwards to the southwest in the direction of the Austrian border, in what is referred to as the fourth quadrant, this having been prevented till now by the iron curtain of the totalitarian regime. This will help renew and enhance territorial and service-related relations with municipalities on the Austrian side. The city centre also expects to transform, as it becomes broader, more

attractive and livelier. Probably most importantly, former factory sites will vanish from the centre, being replaced by modern architecture and adopting a multipurpose role. Emphasis will be put on the construction of mixed-use buildings with quality housing, premium office space, shops and leisure areas with parks, playgrounds and sports facilities. The city centre will start to spread out toward the river, thanks to which Bratislava will reclaim its former title of Beauty on the Danube. Several kilometres of modern attractive boulevard will run along both banks of the river. The revitalisation of the embankment zone will be taken care of by experienced developers with the best possible references, such as Bal-

lymore Properties or J&T Real Estate. Development will start on the north bank, and the Danube embankment projects of the decade will be called Eurovea and River Park. The areas around the central bus and train stations will be transformed, with property mega projects cropping up worth tens of billions of koruna. By 2009 the north and south of the city on either bank of the River Danube will be linked up by a modern high-speed tramway, which will connect up to the existing tramline network. In the coming years the city plans to invest millions and millions of euro, primarily into the revitalisation of transport infrastructure.

4.1. REAL ESTATE MARKET IN BRATISLAVA

The economic reforms of the Slovak government from the 2002-2006 period led to impressive economic growth, which last year came to over 8% on average. The construction sector reflects the excellent condition of the Slovak economy, and so the whole country is experiencing a construction boom. The heart of construction work and real estate development is the capital Bratislava, which is undergoing unparalleled development. It is as if the Slovak metropolis wanted to make up for the almost construction apathy of the period of international isolation that Slovakia faced for the best part of the 1990s. The new construction fever is seeing thousands and thousands of square metres of commercial and residential premises being built each year. Today Bratislava has a stable place on the map of global real estate players. While just a few years ago the mention of it would just raise the scrutinising eyebrow of experts, 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. In Bratislava you can find world renowned developers like Ballymore Properties, which are accompanied also by strong Slovak players, which now play their hands 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 which 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. Tourist potential on the other hand attracts developers that specialise in hotel projects. 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 Plynarenska 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 till 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 no other European city can offer. Special importance in the urban concept of Bratislava is associated with the embankments on both sides of the River Danube, the historical city cen-

DID YOU KNOW THAT ...

... the new Land Use Plan of Bratislava has pinpointed 3,200 hectares of new development space for housing, civil amenities and mixed-use buildings?

BIGGEST PROPERTY TRANSACTIONS IN BRATISLAVA EUR mil.

Ranking 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Source: MediaMate

Amount 200 105 90 75 60

Project Polus City Center, Millenium Tower I, II Apollo Business Center 32% Majority share in BBC III-IV 50% share in Aupark Hotel Carlton

Buyer Immoeast Hannover Leasing Heitman Rodamco Europe Nautical1, Patron Capital and Truthheim Invest

4.2. OFFICE SPACE

The market of office space is currently the most developed segment of the property market in Bratislava. Bratislava swiftly made up for the lost time of the 1990s. Nevertheless, there is still a lot of scope on the market. This is proven also by the perpetual interest of property developers, investors and banks in new office building projects. There is still a lot of demand for quality A class office space, with practically every new building being fully occupied within a few months of completion.

There are roughly 1.1 million square metres of office space in Bratislava. This includes also buildings that companies built for their own needs and those that serve for public institutions. Just under two thirds of all offices are used for commercial purposes. Most of them date to the era of socialism, but many have since been reconstructed. At present there are only about 300,000 square metres of real quality office space in Bratislava that come up to the standard demanded by tenants, and most of that is permanently occupied.

In the coming years the availability of such office space will be greatly extended. In the next five years alone some 600,000 square metres of new offices should be created in Bratislava. All the buildings are class A standard. A lot of competition means lower rent. This does not please developers so much, but clients warmly welcome it. In this respect, Bratislava is a rarity compared with other European capitals. In the past five years the rent tariffs for Bratislava office space have dropped by almost a third. The average rent is in the range of EUR 11.5 per square metre a month, but for large clients

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INCREMENT IN OFFICE SPACE IN BRATISLAVA (GLA, m 2)

Year 2000 Gross leasable area (GLA) 47 000 83 000 30 000
2003 2000 2001 2002

50 000

100 000

150 000

200 000

250 000

300 000

350 000

400 000

DID YOU KNOW THAT ...

... in the next five years almost 600,000 square metres of new office space will be created in Bratislava?

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 - 2010

Note: Increments are rounded. 2007-2010 is prognosis. SOURCE: MediaMate

76 500 43 500 90 000 75 000 90 000 370 000

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 - 2010

occupying several thousand square metres, amounts under EUR 9 are no exception. The growing number of buildings is welcomed also by institutional property developers and funds, for which Bratislava has now become a much favoured purchase destination. The majority of ready-made offices already belong to owners from abroad. For example, the Apollo Business Center was bought at the beginning of last year by Germany company Hannover Leasing, while the BBC I-V complex of buildings is owned by American giant Heitman. Bratislavas secondary real estate market boasts several attractive features: above all it represents a secure investment in an EU member state. Even though the yield from these deals no longer produces double figures in percentage terms like at the beginning of the century, at present the level of eight percent or so is still higher than in Western Europe. In Bratislava several business localities have formed, where the volume of office buildings is much denser. The heart of the city centre has traditionally been most favoured, which is also reflected in the highest rent. The most expensive offices in Bratislava are to be found in Hotel Radisson SAS Carlton on Hviezdoslav Square, which costs around EUR 18 per sq m a mon-

th. The centre has the character of lots of smaller buildings, mostly historical, which developers have converted into administrative buildings. Due to a lack of space, completely new projects are few and far between right in the centre, with one of the few exceptions being Park One, which is the project of British developer group Convergence Capital. The building has more than ten thousand metres of rental space, and should be completed at the end of this spring. Another new project, the Pressburg Trade Center (12,000 sq m GLA) from the Austrian company Soravia Gruppe, concerns a restored older building, just like many other projects. The locality with the biggest concentration of office projects, referred to as Central Business District (CBD), can be found in Bratislava on the site between Plynarenska Street, Bajkalska Street and Dostojevskeho rad Street. It stretches into two boroughs of the city Old Town and Ruinov. The first modern office blocks to be built in the Slovak capital were erected in this area. Back in the 1990s the Slovak developer HB Reavis Group built the twin buildings BBC I-II, to which it later added a further two buildings. BBC V was then built by Israeli developer B.S.R. Europe. In close proximity to this, the first office complex in Slovakia, the impressive Apollo Business

Center was built, once again by the HB Reavis Group. These buildings laid the foundation for a modern CBD. The business character is further enhanced by the headquarters of major banking houses, which mark the edge of the locality on either side. The majority of unfinished and announced projects can be found in this locality. The freshly certified Tower 115 from the strong domestic group J&T Real Estate and the City Business Center from the stable of HB Reavis Group act as gateways to the CBD. The largest office building project (80,000 sq m) not only in Slovakia, but in the whole of Central Europe, is the Apollo BC II, once more being developed by HB Reavis Group. It is here in this locality that we can find the mixed-use Twin City, which offers 60,000 sq m of office space. The CBD makes it way toward the Danube embankment, where the new Bratislava down-town will be created. There, too, tens of thousand square metres of exclusive office space will be created in the coming years. Another locality that has the character of an office zone is Patronka in Nove Mesto city district. It is dominated by J&T Real Estate, which is behind the towering complex entitled West End Business Park. It is composed of some tall buildings and several smaller

RENT IN OFFICE BUILDINGS 20012006, EUR/m 2/month, average

Year 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
SOURCE: MediaMate

10

12

14

16

18

20

Rent (EUR/m2/month) 18 17 15.5 15 13.5 11.5

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

ones, with work on the next phase being launched by the developer this year. In terms of developer activities, the other side of Nove Mesto belongs to the Hungarian company TriGranit Development Corporation. It is responsible for the Polus shopping centre with the two adjacent office towers, which will soon be joined by a third sibling. Not far from there the Lakeside office complex is being built by the same developer. Construction work on the first phase of the project, which once finished should offer 55,000 square metres of floor area, was started this year. The borough of Petralka also has the ambition of becoming a strong business quarter, with work ongoing on the 22-storey Aupark Tower by the HB Reavis Group. Following the first phase of its Digital Park (11,000 sq m), the domestic investment group Penta Investments is preparing a further four.

15

C IT Y O F B R AT IS LA V A

LARGEST EXISTING OFFICE BUILDINGS (GLA, m 2)

Ranking 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Building City Business Center Apollo Business Center Tower 115 BBC V. BBC IV. Gross leasable area (GLA) 39 000 37 500 32 000 30 500 25 000 Developer HB Reavis Group HB Reavis Group J&T Real Estate B.S.R. Europe HB Reavis Group

SOURCE: MediaMate

LARGEST OFFICE BUILDINGS IN PREPARATION (GLA, m 2)

Ranking 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Building Apollo Business Center II Twin City Lakeside Digital Park River Park Gross leasable area (GLA) 80 000 60 000 55 000 35 000 25 000 Developer HB Reavis Group HB Reavis Group TriGrnit Development Corporation Penta Investments J&T Real Estate

SOURCE: MediaMate

Ballymore Properties. In addition to flats and offices, it will also put 55,000 square meters of retail space on the market, which will be occupied by prestigious shops. Even now we know of some of the tenants, such as Marks & Spencer, Adidas, Benetton, Sportissimo or s.Oliver. The project will also include a hypermarket, toy store and bookstore, for instance. It is Eurovea, situated on the lucrative embankment of the River Danube, which has the best prerequisites to take the role of Bratislavas high street. The project costing more than SKK 10 billion will be completed in 2009. The same deadline as Eurovea is set also for the renovation of the central train station square, being carried out by Slovak developer IPR Group. This ambitious project plans to draw primarily on the position of the transport node, which sees the flow of more than fifty thousand potential customers daily. A threesome of projects in the city centre is capturing most attention. On the embankment it is chiefly the River Park residential development from J&T Real Estate, the concept of which is perfectly supplemented by offices and a shopping gallery. British developer Lordship is planning to erect a shopping centre with luxury hotel and flats on Kamenne Square, where the Tesco department store stands today. The project with planned completion in 2010 carries the name of Centre Plaza and is projected to cost SKK 6 billion. Three times that investment is projected for the mixed-use Twin City project (EUR 450 million). It will provide 100,000 square metres of retail space, offices, luxury housing, and leisure and cultural facilities. Shop premises will, to a greater or lesser degree, be present in practically every mixed-use project erected in Bratislava. The question is whether they will be there to serve almost solely the residents in the complex or will have the ambition of operating also as independent shops as such. A desire for the latter is shown by Bratislava developer Immocap Group, which is preparing to convert the site of the former swimming baths Central. Alongside the five hundred plus flats it planned also about 30,000 square metres of shopping space. An important role will be played by shopping premises in the concept of satellite projects, like The Port in Devnska Nova Ves city district by Penta Investments or the South City project from Cresco Group. Not forgetting other potential future centres, like Petralka City.

DID YOU KNOW THAT ...

... Bratislava has not had a typical high street to date?

4.3. RETAIL PREMISES

Where retail premises are concerned, Bratislava is quite unique. Unlike other world capitals, it does not have a typical high street, i.e. a street where exclusive shops are concentrated. In the Slovak capital this type of street is substituted by large shopping complexes built at the turn of the millennium. The first, Polus City Center, was completed in 2000 and was the work of Hungary property group TriGranit Development Corporation. Just a year later it was followed by Aupark, built by domestic developer HB Reavis Group. These two shopping centres have maintained their leading positions to the present day, with last years combined sales revenues of both shopping centres exceeding four billion koruna (EUR 114 million). The boom bubble in retail premises burst a little later than in the case of office premises. In the 1990s Slovakia was bypassed by the wave of supermarket and hypermarket construction, and so the people in the city had to wait for the start of the new millennium before they could enjoy the classic type of shopping-leisure complexes that could be seen in neighbouring countries. The Polus and Aupark shopping centres were soon joined by Danubia in the southern city district of Petralka, Shopping Palace Soravia at Zlate Piesky, and more prominently by Avion Shopping Park. This project comes from the property division of furniture concern Ikea and was already a highly successful project upon opening. Together with Aupark and Polus they created the top three among Bratislava shopping centres. It is only logical that with the success of these shopping centres, their expansion was soon to follow. In mid-March of this year Avion will open a further 15,000 square metres of new shopping space, while the expansion in August of the Aupark centre is only slightly less. Yet this is far from the end in terms of the number of retail projects that developers have planned for Bratislava. Compared with other European cities, Bratislava still lags behind in terms of the number of square metres per capita. Rough calculations speak about one square metre per resident. This is another reason why real estate players are trying to utilise this space. The sooner, the better. There are already several outstanding projects planned that will change the face of Bratislava forever. A lot of talk will be about the embankment development Eurovea, which is being built by Irish developer

LARGEST EXISTING SHOPPING CENTRES IN BRATISLAVA (GLA, m 2)

Ranking 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
1

Building Aupark
1

Gross leasable area (GLA) 56 800 50 000 40 100 30 000 19 000

Developer HB Reavis Group Ikea TriGrnit Development Corporation Campegnon Bernard Soravia Gruppe

Avion Shopping Park1 Polus City Center Danubia Shopping Palace Soravia

including this years extension

SOURCE: MediaMate

LARGEST SHOPPING CENTRES IN BRATISLAVA IN PREPARATION (GLA, m 2)

Ranking 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Name Twin City (Mlynsk Nivy bus station) Eurovea Central train station Kamenn nmestie Kpele Centrl Gross leasable area (GLA) 100 000 55 000 55 000 40 000 30 000 Developer HB Reavis Group Ballymore Properties IPR Group Lordship Immocap Group

SOURCE: MediaMate

17

New blocks of flats will form the new appearance of the city, because their architecture is of a higher quality and more varied than the original cement-panel housing schemes. The majority of flats are privately owned. The average living space of a flat is 76 square metres. In just the last few years a luxury segment has been

settling in Bratislava. So far there are a handful of similar projects, the most prominent of which are Rozadol in the Ruinov borough of Bratislava or the Karloveske rameno from J&T Real Estate. In the coming years flats will also be built by Czech company Geosan in Dlhe Diely, with a lot of excitement surrounding the new builds on the

attractive embankment in the shape of the Eurovea and River Park projects. It is not only the commercial sector that is increasing the number of newly built flats, however. The city itself is focusing on the construction of rental flats primarily for young families and socially disadvantaged groups of the population.

DEVELOPMENT OF FLAT CONSTRUCTION IN BRATISLAVA REGION

2004 Completed ats Started ats
1

2 000

4 000

6 000

8 000

10 000

12 000

2005 4 673 7 079

20061 5 821 12 026

2004 Completed ats Started ats 2005

3 349 4 947

for three quarters

20061

SOURCE: Ministry of Construction and Regional Development SR

DID YOU KNOW THAT ...

... there is 1 flat for every 2.3 residents in Bratislava?

NUMBER OF FLATS PER 1,000 RESIDENTS (Data from 2001)

Bratislava region Bratislava Bratislava I Bratislava II Bratislava III Bratislava IV Bratislava V
SOURCE: Ministry of Construction and Regional Development SR

100,0

200,0

300,0

400,0

500,0

404.8 436.0 492.7 447.5 471.1 410.2 358.3

Bratislavsk kraj Bratislava Bratislava I Bratislava II Bratislava III Bratislava IV Bratislava V

4.4. HOUSING
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. The number of new flats is rising continually, and in the first nine months of last year almost six thousand new flats were completed in the Bratislava region. The large majority of them were in new build projects directly in the city. Whats more, strong satellite growth is being seen in villages around the city, which are becoming home for part of the middle class who work in Bratislava. 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. There are quite a lot of them, unlike in the case of commercial developments, where the market is being shared by just a few players. The market is dominated by Slovak companies that know the market well. This is characteristic of the residential segment in the majority of countries, as housing projects are financed short-term and are not so financially demanding as commercial projects. Whats 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. Probably the largest residential project in Slovakia at present is the planned South City project between the southern city districts of Petralka and Rusovce. More than 10,000 flats will be erected on a 50-hectare plot accompanied by shops and associated civil amenities. The project is the brainchild of the Cresco Group, which was also the author of the III Towers complex in Nove Mesto. The project Petralka City has the ambition of creating a residential centre in Petralka, the largest housing estate in Slovakia. More than 700 new flats are offered by the Koloseo project in Nove Mesto, which is being built by Austrian-Slovak developer BZ Group.

4.5. OTHER SEGMENTS

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. This sphere is dominated above all by the town of Senec just a few kilometres from Bratislava, while a growth trend can also be witnessed in the nearby towns of Svty Jur, Lozorno or Malacky. Of particular interest directly in Bratislava is the borough of Devnska Nov Ves, as it is home to the said car plant, and the southern part of Petralka, especially on Kopianska Street for excellent transport connections. This is also the reason why a logistic centre is cropping up in the Raa borough of Bratislava. 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. Bratislavas trump card is in the area of congress tourism, where it is gradually becoming a relevant 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 Kempinski will be part of River Park, while the Sheraton will be built by Irish company Ballymore Properties as part of its embankment development Eurovea. The two hotels should be finished in 2009.

DID YOU KNOW THAT ...

... in 2009 two new five star hotels will be opened in Bratislava?

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C IT Y O F B R AT IS LA V A

5. SELECTED PROJECTS
EUROVEA BALLYMORE PROPERTIES
Irish developer Ballymore Properties has chosen the Eurovea project in Bratislava as its flagship on the continent of Europe. The project concerns a new mixed-use international trade centre that will push the border of the historical city centre right to the edge of the River Danube. By 2009 new offices, flats, a five-star Sheraton hotel, a luxury shopping gallery and leisure and entertainment facilities will all appear on the north bank. This concept perfectly supplements the traditional centre of Bratislava its objective is not to compete with the traditional, history-soaked heart of the city, but instead to extend and complement it. Eurovea will therefore in itself become a destination that offers a pulsating environment for shopping and leisure activities, unparalleled in Central Europe. Eurovea combines the very best of contemporary design and architecture. At the same time it respects the history and culture that is so characteristic of Bratislava. This motif is enhanced further by the fact that the new Slovak National Theatre building stands right next to the development.

RIVER PARK - J&T REAL ESTATE

River Park is one of the key property development projects planned for Bratislava. Not only because it is one of the largest projects in the citys history, but primarily because together with Eurovea they are the first projects to turn the desolate embankment into an architectonic dream. Compared with the project of Irish developer Ballymore Properties, the concept with this project is slightly different. River Park is designed as a town within a city, and comprises a complex of interconnected buildings that make up a compact whole. It is situated on the north bank of the Danube, between The New Bridge and the former PKO culture and leisure centre on an area of more than 2.5 hectares. From here you can comfortably and quickly get to anywhere in or out of the city. The position of River Park provides a direct connection by the motorway circular to Vienna, Brno, Prague and the rest of Slovakia, with the motorway connecting the whole of Slovakia in the near future.

The Eurovea project also includes other attractive ways of spending ones free time: cinemas, sports facilities, family entertainment centre and a beautiful park along the riverfront. The shopping area will be home to a wide array of household names like Marks & Spencer, Diesel, Mixer or s.Oliver. In total Eurovea will have 55,000 square metres of retail space available to rent. A great plus for the Eurovea project is its excellent accessibility. It is situated within walking distance of all major cultural, commercial and administrative institutions in the city centre. It is also easily accessible by car or public transport. There is good access to the zone by individual transport from the city centre and main traffic arteries. The project also has a good train connection. On the central square there will be a wharf for mooring speedboats from

Vienna and Budapest. Eurovea will therefore become a focal point for many visitors also as a place for embarking when leaving the capital. Eurovea is one of the largest and most prominent property developments in Europe at present. With a budget of over SKK 10 billion (EUR 266 million), which the developer will invest in phase one, this investment is beyond a Central European scale. The name of the investor also induces respect in the world of real estate. Ballymore Properties is one of the most prominent property developers in the British Isles. It is known in particular for its extensive revitalisation of the London docklands. The scope of its projects to date come to 700,000 sq m in Ireland, 950,000 sq m in Great Britain and a further 550,000 sq m in Central Europe. Eurovea is a Slovak first for Ballymore.

The accent here is not on shops, but on flats. There will be over two hundred flats here, with the total area being almost twofold that. The flats here will be of the highest standard and so will supplement the growing luxury residential segment in Bratislava, which will also be reflected in the price. River Park will create something over 10,000 square metres, of modern office space on the riverbank. The River Park complex will include a five star Kempinski hotel. Once the embankment zone is developed, Bratislava will join the likes of Amsterdam, Paris, London or Hamburg, where life is closely linked to the river. The developer of River Park is the renowned company J&T Real Estate, which already has several admirable projects under its belt. In Bratislava the most prominent of these include the Westend office buildings, which are to undergo further expansion this year, and the residential area Karlovesk rameno, which also lies along the River Danube. J&T is a strong player also in the industrial segment, with acquisitions of its logistic projects in Bratislava, Trnava, Dubnica and Nitra by the French group Axa (EUR 250 million) setting a landmark in terms of the largest Slovak property transactions.

It is the only developer in the hotel business to date to build two five-star hotels at the same time. Both are being built in co-operation with the prestigious Kempinski hotel group, with one in the High Tatra region, and the other in River Park. It also plans to penetrate abroad with hotels, not just in the surrounding Visegrad 4 countries, but also in Moscow, where J&T Real Estate is building a mixed-use complex of offices, shops and flats. In close proximity to the embankment, J&T Real Estate is building also the twin tower project called Panorama City, which will be mostly for housing.

Retail and leisure area: 58,000 sq m GLA Office space: 22,000 sq m GLA Flats: 240 Hotel: Five star Sheraton, 207 rooms Number of retail outlets: 150 Number of food and drink establishments: 30

Parking places: 1,729 Volume of investment: EUR 266 million Completion date: 2009 Main tenants: Marks & Spencer, Sportisimo, Kenvelo, Panta Rhei, Next & Mothercare, s.Oliver, Metropolis Cinema, IMAX Real estate agents: Cushman & Wakefield, Real Spektrum, Spiller Farmer

21

C IT Y O F B R AT IS LA V A

Retail and leisure premises: 10,500 sq m Office space: 23,000 sq m Hotel: 22,800 sq m, Kempinski five star hotel Area for flats: 42,300 sq m Parking places: 1,100

TWIN CITY HB REAVIS GROUP

Basically several metres from the Danube embankment there is another territory that will be subject to dramatic change. The locality at Mlynsk Nivy will see it atmosphere transformed from what was once an industrial locality into the mixed-use development Twin City. Almost 200,000 square metres of leasable area will be created for luxury flats, shops and offices, a four-star hotel and various cultural and public amenities. Twin City will replace todays outdated central bus station, with a completely new modern station to be built for travellers. Several thousand parking places will also be created.

REGENERATION OF CENTRAL TRAIN STATION SQUARE I.P.R. SLOVAKIA

With its budget, Twin City is currently the most expensive real estate project not only in Slovakia, but in all of Central and East Europe. From the SKK 17 billion or so (EUR 450 million), a straight billion will be absorbed by the said construction of the new bus station. Twin City comprises a complex of buildings that will be dominated by 42-storey tower. Some sixty thousand square metres are earmarked for class A+ office space. Just under one hundred thousand square metres are set aside for retail and leisure purposes. The concept supplements 320 premium standard flats and a 200-room hotel. Work on Twin City is set to commence this year, with the project completion date set for 2011. The developer of the Twin City project is the company HB Reavis Group, which has been operating on the Slovak property market for fourteen years already. At the turn of the year it expanded abroad, opening branches in neighbouring Czech Republic and Hungary. The company employs around 150 people. During its existence HB Reavis Group has carried out projects amounting to a gross leasable area of almost 300,000 square metres.

Among the most distinguished completed projects there is the Aupark shopping centre, which was one of the first and most successful projects of its kind in Slovakia. Another is the office complex Apollo Business Center I. In the next ten years the company plans to invest EUR 1.5 billion into new projects. In addition to Twin City, these include Apollo Business Center II, more Aupark centres in cities in Slovakia and the Czech Republic, or the technological park Eurovalley in the Zhorie Region near Bratislava.

Not only will the main bus station undergo a major overhaul, but so will the Central train station. This ambitious project will be carried out by the strong domestic construction-developer group I.P.R. Slovakia. It has already successfully completed many projects, and it is currently finishing off the office complex Astoria Palace, situated right in the heart of Bratislava opposite the seat of the Slovak president. The new mixed-use zone worth seven billion koruna will give the station a new face and integrate it more into the citys character. The organisation of transport in this locality will also be improved. A public bus terminal will be located below the new station hall. A floor lower there will be a turnaround junction for trams. The new station hall above the bus terminal will have passages leading directly onto the platforms. Some SKK 900 million has been earmarked for the new train station, the renovation of the current train station buildings and alteration of the Transport Museum. In addition to the construction of a new train station and the reconstruction of the current one, a shopping centre with 75,000 square metres of leasable area will also be built.

This will turn the train station into one of the five largest shopping zones in the Slovak capital. The planned shopping centre will have a main pedestrian aisle, basically a covered passage, fringed by 3 and 4 storey buildings. A passage will lead out to the station square in front of the main station building. Two office buildings and a hotel will also be built, creating the border at the other side of the square at ancova Street. The investor will incorporate the original train station building from 1904 into the design. Parking places will be created on the first, second and third underground floors of the project. The first and second underground floors will include underground tram stops. The first floor above ground of the shopping centre will be open non-stop, and will include, among other things, a hypermarket and other shops, just like on the second floor.

23

C IT Y O F B R AT IS LA V A

Retail and leisure premises: 100,000 sq m Office space: 60,000 sq m Hotel: four stars, 220 rooms Housing: 320 flats Architect: Benoy

III TOWERS AND SOUTH CITY CRESCO GROUP

PETRALKA CITY PETRALKA CITY

Another important development is linked to Petralka in the shape of the ambitious project entitled Petralka City, which is the child of the developer company of the same name. The project is being developed in synergy with the core transport system, which will see a high-speed tramway connected to Petralka. An interesting aspect is the perfectly incorporated natural phenomenon, Chorvtske rameno canal of the River Danube. This concerns a new mixed-use centre of Petralka, which is the largest borough of Bratislava and also the largest housing estate in Slovakia (home to some 120,000 people).

The residential project entitled III Towers will expand the current city centre. The three tall buildings will offer modern housing in the outer centre of Bratislava with excellent views of the city. The three towers will be 24 floors high. The excellent transport connections from Bajkalska Street destine the III Towers for success. They are situated in the immediate vicinity of the two largest Bratislava football stadiums and the Polus shopping centre. They offer also other possibilities of how to use free time actively in the vicinity. Within the complex there will be a modern equipped fitness centre. III Towers represent a perfect combination of a high level of privacy and safety, and highly comfortable intelligent housing. Each of the towers will have its own 24-hour reception service. The project includes also a shopping passage, services and other civil amenities. The III Towers make up three elliptical 24-storey buildings that stand on a 4-storey block. They offer a total of 633 boldly designed flat units (211 in each tower) from single room flats to luxury maisonette apartments with terraces. The flats have a functional and flexible layout, and generous living areas. Two-metre high window panes give

residents an unparalleled panoramic view of the city. On the fifth floor there will be a green relaxation zone for the exclusive use of residents of the block. The real estate agents Lexxus received exclusive sales rights to the III Towers project from the consortium, and the company Hypocentrum will set the mortgage financing of the project and arrange mortgages in banks for potential clients. The visual design of the III Towers is the result of co-operation of Slovak architect Peter Moravk and the Chicago studio Solomon Associates. The project was born in the Slovak developer company Cresco Group, which later invited the renowned foreign company Quinlan Private Golub to get involved. Cresco Group has extensive developer plans in Bratislava. The largest project of the company will be South City between the largest Slovak housing estate Petralka and the city borough of Rusovce. Cresco Group owns 50 hectares of land there, where in the coming years it wants to create a new town with blocks of flats and mixed-use buildings. This phase is currently at the stage of having a master plan produced.

Petralka City will transform the largest and most densely populated housing estate in Central Europe from a monotone cement-panel housing scheme into a fully-fledged town with autonomous multipurpose centre. It will be built on an unused extensive plot of land bordered in the north by Rusovska cesta Street, from the west by Hlova Street and from the south-southeast by the Chorvtske rameno canal. Ideal transport connections and the presence of this distinct natural phenomenon provide the perfect background to create a harmonious mix of housing, work, leisure and nature in various interesting forms and combinations. Petralka City should be completely finished in 2013, but the first stage will be ready three years earlier. There will be 270,000 square metres of housing, shops, services, entertainment and offices. Phase one will see the construction of a mixed-use centre with 30,000 square metres of space. Construction work will start in 2008, while certification for use should come two years later. The budget for the first stage is SKK 1.7 billion. Two 26-storey dominant high-rise blocks will house flats and a hotel with a capacity of 380 beds. Petralka City is currently undergoing an international architectonic tender.

The investor will build retail premises, offices and flats in several buildings. The project also includes a congress centre and four floors of wellness and cultural-social facilities. The wellness-centre will contain a public swimming pool. Underground parking is planned in the basements of all the buildings, which should produce around 760 parking spaces. At ground level there should be just under two hundred parking spots. The company plans to create a passage on the estate and incorporate squares, 3,000 square metres of water areas, fountains and premises for recreation and sport into the external areas. An area of 11,500 square metres will be set aside for greenery.

Basic parameters of project according to urban study: Land area: 274,000 sq m Created floor area: 400,000 sq m Park, greenery: 70,000 sq m Water areas: 24,000 sq m

25

C ITY O F B R A TIS L A VA

OTHER KEY PROJECTS IN PREPARATION

The office complex entitled Lakeside is being built in the Nove Mesto borough of Bratislava by Hungarian developer TriGrnit Development Corporation. The name is inspired by the locality, since the project will be built right next to Kuchajda lake. Construction work has been broken down into four phases, which once finished will add another 80,000 plus square metres of premises to Bratislava. The total budget for Lakeside calculates with EUR 100 million. This year work was started on the first phase, which will produce a gross leasable area of around 20,000 square metres. Trigrnit has been doing business in Bratislava for ten years already, and has so far built the Polus shopping-leisure centre and the two office towers on either side, Millennium Tower I-II. A third tower should join them shortly. Domestic group Penta Investments also takes the developer business seriously. Last year it completed the first phase of the Bratislava office complex Digital Park in Petralka. This year it announced the construction of a further four buildings as part of the project. Construction work will start in the summer and they should be certified for occupancy at the end of 2008. The quartet of new buildings offer a combined area of around 35,000 square metres of office space. After the 2nd phase is complete, a sixth building will be added, although the term for this construction has not yet been announced by the investor. In addition to Digital Park, Penta is also preparing another large project. This time it is the contained satellite town development called Port in Devnska Nova Ves, where it will build flats, offices, shops and sports areas on 240 hectares of land. The most inner city centre will also receive a new look by the end of the decade. The central square Kamenn nmestie, which is the site of Tesco and Hotel Kyjev at present, will be developed into a mixed-use zone by British developer Lordship. The project will bear the name Centre Plaza and the investment should top six billion koruna. Construction work is set to start this year, with the complex to be opened before Christmas of 2010. In addition to shops, Centre Plaza will also include one or two three-star or four-star hotels. The leasable area of the shopping centre will exceed 40,000 square metres. The retail chain Tesco will remain on the project site also after the square is revitalised. A smaller, but nevertheless interesting project in the centre is the 9-storey office block Park One on Kollrovo nmestie. The developer is the company Convergence Capital, for which this will be its first project in Slovakia. The developer is active also in Budapest. In total the office complex will have something over 10,000 square metres of top standard office space for rent. The project budget comes to SKK 800 million. The concept of Park One is founded on the attractive locality of the inner city centre of Bratislava. Another advantage is good transport access just 300 metres from Presidents Palace. The buildings of the Slovak Technical University are situated nearby. In the outer centre of Bratislava where the Ruinov, Nove Mesto and Stare Mesto boroughs of the city meet, the mixed-use complex called Central is planned. The developer, Immocap Group, will build it on the site of the former swimming pool at Trnavske myto Square, which has been falling apart for fifteen years now. The complex will also include a 2-floor shopping centre, from which individual blocks will protrude tower building with hotel, office premises and flats, four blocks of flats, and two mixed-use buildings. The most dominant element in terms of height will be 98 metres high, and there will be around 25,000 square metres of floor area available.

For more information on opportunities in Slovakias Capital City, visit us online at www.cityofbratislava.eu or contact us directly at (+421 2) 59 356 300 or marketing@bratislava.sk City of Bratislava Mayors Office of Communications & Marketing Primacialne namestie 1, P.O. Box 192 Bratislava, SK-814 99 Slovakia