''Andersia Under Way'', Poland Monthly
On May 26, the Von der Heyden Group held a cornerstone-laying ceremony for Andersia Tower, Poznań's coming high-rise office tower and hotel.
Sven von der Heyden was clearly proud of his people and his project as he laid the cornerstone to what will one day be Poznań's tallest building. At more than 110 meters, Andersia Tower will form the center point of a joint venture between Poznań city council and the affable entrepreneur's Von der Heyden Group to revitalize Plac Andersa and bring investment, life, and jobs to the people of Poznań. The building, designed by architects Ewa and Stanislaw Sipiński, is an ambitious project and constitutes a continuation of the Von der Heyden Group's existing structure, Poznań Financial Center (PFC), which was completed in 2001.
Construction of the building will be split into two stages. The first stage will consist of 44,000 square meters, housing a combination of hotel, office, and commercial space. The lower level will provide 171 four-star hotel rooms as well as a conference centre and retail area, with the upper levels dedicated to A-Class office space. The top floor of the structure will house an exclusive restaurant, commanding terrace views of the city from 90 meters above Plac Andersa. Phase One, expected to cost $60m, will also provide swimming and gym facilities in addition to saunas and steam rooms.
The second stage will comprise a 36,000-square-meter commercial and retail center surrounding the main tower and connecting it with the existing Poznań Financial Center (PFC) as well as split-level underground parking.
The entire project is scheduled to come on line in 2006, the appointed agent, Knight Frank, was previously responsible for leasing space in PFC. The general contractor for the project to date has been Warbud, a builder whose other projects in the city include Plaza Center on ul. Lechnicka and the UAM library building on Aleje Niepodlegiości. Warbud's involvement to date has extended to preparing the site to the so-called "zero state" including the foundations and underground parking element. Sven von der Heyden praised the company's work so far and said he would do what he could to see that Warbud won the remaining contracts, though he emphasized that it was a separate tender, the outcome of which will be known later this year. The investment is to be coordinated and supervised by Grupa Inwestycyjna Probuild. Upon completion the entire Andersia/PFC complex will have brought around 120,000 square meters of commercial real estate space to the Poznań market at a cost of over $120m and, the developers hope, a new commercial and leisure center to the city of Poznań.
The cornerstone laying ceremony was attended by representatives of the city authorities who expressed their enthusiasm that the occasion, taking place nearly six years after the PFC ceremony, would herald a new era for the city as it represents not only Poznań's tallest building but also its biggest investment and the first since EU entry. As such it was fitting, they said that a European who had made Poland his second home, should be at the helm of the development. Von der Heyden reminisced about his first visit to the city, calling Poznań residents a separate breed.
"Who else would bring me here in a vintage BMW built in my hometown of Munich in the same year I was born?" he said, referring the city's symbolic efforts to woo him in the 1990s.
Von der Heyden praised the people and the city also used the occasion to promote another of his pet projects: Opportunity Poland. The German developer told reporters that it was hard for someone who loved Poland to travel abroad and see how badly the country is perceived. Following the loss of the Hyundai investment to Slovakia, he decided that somebody needed to do something and wrote an open letter to 50 people in Warsaw. Although he conceded that it is difficult to find funding for such an idea, the resulting non-profit initiative formed in February aims to encourage investment and create a positive image of Poland abroad.
Ewan Jones
Sven von der Heyden was clearly proud of his people and his project as he laid the cornerstone to what will one day be Poznań's tallest building. At more than 110 meters, Andersia Tower will form the center point of a joint venture between Poznań city council and the affable entrepreneur's Von der Heyden Group to revitalize Plac Andersa and bring investment, life, and jobs to the people of Poznań. The building, designed by architects Ewa and Stanislaw Sipiński, is an ambitious project and constitutes a continuation of the Von der Heyden Group's existing structure, Poznań Financial Center (PFC), which was completed in 2001.
Construction of the building will be split into two stages. The first stage will consist of 44,000 square meters, housing a combination of hotel, office, and commercial space. The lower level will provide 171 four-star hotel rooms as well as a conference centre and retail area, with the upper levels dedicated to A-Class office space. The top floor of the structure will house an exclusive restaurant, commanding terrace views of the city from 90 meters above Plac Andersa. Phase One, expected to cost $60m, will also provide swimming and gym facilities in addition to saunas and steam rooms.
The second stage will comprise a 36,000-square-meter commercial and retail center surrounding the main tower and connecting it with the existing Poznań Financial Center (PFC) as well as split-level underground parking.
The entire project is scheduled to come on line in 2006, the appointed agent, Knight Frank, was previously responsible for leasing space in PFC. The general contractor for the project to date has been Warbud, a builder whose other projects in the city include Plaza Center on ul. Lechnicka and the UAM library building on Aleje Niepodlegiości. Warbud's involvement to date has extended to preparing the site to the so-called "zero state" including the foundations and underground parking element. Sven von der Heyden praised the company's work so far and said he would do what he could to see that Warbud won the remaining contracts, though he emphasized that it was a separate tender, the outcome of which will be known later this year. The investment is to be coordinated and supervised by Grupa Inwestycyjna Probuild. Upon completion the entire Andersia/PFC complex will have brought around 120,000 square meters of commercial real estate space to the Poznań market at a cost of over $120m and, the developers hope, a new commercial and leisure center to the city of Poznań.
The cornerstone laying ceremony was attended by representatives of the city authorities who expressed their enthusiasm that the occasion, taking place nearly six years after the PFC ceremony, would herald a new era for the city as it represents not only Poznań's tallest building but also its biggest investment and the first since EU entry. As such it was fitting, they said that a European who had made Poland his second home, should be at the helm of the development. Von der Heyden reminisced about his first visit to the city, calling Poznań residents a separate breed.
"Who else would bring me here in a vintage BMW built in my hometown of Munich in the same year I was born?" he said, referring the city's symbolic efforts to woo him in the 1990s.
Von der Heyden praised the people and the city also used the occasion to promote another of his pet projects: Opportunity Poland. The German developer told reporters that it was hard for someone who loved Poland to travel abroad and see how badly the country is perceived. Following the loss of the Hyundai investment to Slovakia, he decided that somebody needed to do something and wrote an open letter to 50 people in Warsaw. Although he conceded that it is difficult to find funding for such an idea, the resulting non-profit initiative formed in February aims to encourage investment and create a positive image of Poland abroad.
Ewan Jones
