The cornerstone of the Andersia Tower was laid in Poznań May 25.

The ceremony attracted Mayor Ryszard Grobelny and his predecessor Wojciech Szczęsny Kaczmarek, during whose term the investor, Von der Heyden Group, began operating in Poznań.

Andersia Tower is being built on Andersa Square next to the Poznań Financial Center (PFC), a modern, elegant office building completed in 2001 and showered with awards since then. After the Andersia Tower is completed, the two facilities will form a multifunction complex designed by Poznań architects Ewa and Stanisław Sipiński. The investor for the entire project is the internationally known developer Von der Heyden Group, known in Poland for prestigious projects in Warsaw such as Prima Court on Nowogrodzka Street, the Banking Investment Fund headquarters on Skorupki Street and Liberty Corner on Mysia Street. VDHG was also the developer and investor behind the renovation of the historic Lublinianka Hotel in Lublin, whose rating was upgraded to four stars following restoration.

The 110-meter Andersia Tower, more than 10 meters taller than the PFC, will be erected in two phases. In phase one, a tower will be built to combine office, hotel and retail-and-service functions. Space up to the ninth floor will be occupied by a four-star hotel. The upper floors, with a total usable area of 34,000 sq m, will house A-class office space. At the very top, there will be an observation deck, a restaurant and a piano bar.

The building will also include recreation space with a swimming pool, fitness club, sauna and a steam bath. It should be completed by the end of 2006. Based on a reinforced concrete skeleton-frame structure using the latest technology, it will be an intelligent building, similar to the PFC. The cost is estimated at 53 million euros, 30 percent of which will be covered by the investor, and the rest will come from loans.

Work on the construction site has been in progress for a month, with Warbud S.A. acting as general contractor.

In the second phase, a ring surrounding the PFC and Andersia Tower will be built. Retail and service outlets will occupy 36,000 sq m. The expected cost of this section is almost 30 million euros. The two-level parking garage under the PFC will be expanded to cover the entire complex, which will consequently become the new center of the city. In keeping with the intentions of the investor, it will also teem with life in the afternoon and evening.

This will be promoted by the proximity of the Old Brewery, an impressive shopping mall created from old post-industrial architecture. Nearby other office buildings are also located, including the Hamburg Mansion, as well as Półwiejska Street, one of Poznań's most charming shopping lanes recently converted into a boulevard and currently undergoing revitalization.

With a population of more than 600,000, Poznań is home to 20 university-level schools with 120,000 students. This picturesque city of trade fairs and international cultural events still harbors great potential for investment in addition to the congenial development climate created by the city's authorities.

Ewa Kielak Ciemniewska