FURTHER PRESTIGIOUS COMPANIES MAKE A MOVE FOR BUILDING ALPHA

The new ALPHA office building has found further tenants, such as EDS, Setuza, Salve Group and D.S. Leasing, who will therefore be immediate neighbours of Microsoft, Czech Puma Dassler and the developer themselves, Passerinvest Group. It is almost 70% of the 12,500-sqm area and 220 parking places that have been already leased out. There is still available office space in excess of 3,500 sqm on the first to fourth floor of the building.

The implementation of the ALPHA scheme represents a crucial breakthrough in the development of the whole programme from many perspectives. The first building in the BB Centrum – South to be built on the other side of Vyskočilova Street, the ALPHA is intended to form a part of a complex together with the BETA and GAMMA office buildings, which will be developed in the next few years. Incidentally, there will be a modern wellness centre known as “Nová Brumlovka” among the buildings. In addition, the ALPHA is the first scheme within the BB Centrum to be carried out by Passerinvest Group independently. The developer’s experience and financial position, together with a good reputation of the whole programme, allowed the implementation without any preliminary leasing contracts. The fact that only 30 per cent of the usable area is available and much sought after these days, is in line with the developer’s optimistic forecast. Incidentally, Building ALPHA has three basements and eight above-ground storeys. Very unique in terms of architectural and urban design, the new development reflects a new urban approach, which envisages significantly smaller extent of land coverage to create green areas both in the interiors and exteriors. The roof of the building is designed as a large space covered with grass and lush vegetation. The attractive interior atrium is open to daylight at each of the floor levels, creating pleasant atmosphere in the whole building. What is absolutely unique in Prague is the application of pre-oxidised titanium zinc for the curved south-west and east façades, which is intended – according to Architect Jan Aulík – to be a vital counterbalance to the façades of modern office buildings that feel "rather strict", being void of patina and "signs of ageing". The building received the Construction and Investment Journal Award for the Best Development Project in 2003.

More than five years have passed since BB Centrum, Phase I (Building C, major tenant: Hewlett Packard) was opened. The development has received credit for its successful plan and good address. This can be illustrated by the comment made by Ms Vladimíra Nováková, Real Estate Manager for Eastern Europe, EDS company, who said: “After the flood of 2002 we started to consider moving our headquarters from Karlín to a more suitable place. This solution was also suggested as a result of the unfavourable leasing contract, which could be terminated those days. We were considering more options, however, the BB Centrum won owing to the good location, sufficient floor space, suitable rent levels, and last but not least, the lessor’s reputation.” Under the contract, EDS company leased out a 1,000-sqm area on the second above-ground storey of Building ALPHA.

Established in 1994, EDS Czech Republic is a limited liability company owned solely by the multi-national EDS Corporation. At the Czech market, they are involved in a wide range of activities, such as financial transaction processing, communications, information technology, government sphere and public services. EDS ranks among the TOP 10 System Integrators in the Czech Republic. Their most interesting projects are focused on implementation of an IT system for the Ministry of Defence, outsourcing of IT services for GM OPEL C&S, delivery of an ERP system to Delphi Packard Electric Systems CZ, together with the specialised MAINPLANE and PROMOD IV systems devised for support of long-term planning of the electricity production and distribution provided by ČEZ company. For more information, please contact Ms Tereza Pěkná, Marketing Department, phone: 267 220 101, or see http://www.eds.com

The contemporary Setuza is a joint stock company that was established in connection with the voucher privatisation in 1992. However, the history of the firm dates back to 1848, when a Georg Schicht, farmer and butcher, received a trading licence to produce soap. Nowadays the company’s factory based in the city of Ústí nad Labem, producer of plant oils, gains a dominant position in the domestic market, with the seventy per cent market share (with their oils known as Lukana and Vegetol). Similarly, Setuza reaches a fifty percent market share in hardened fats (with trademarks such as Omega and Ceres soft), satisfying about seven per cent demand for margarine (Alfa). In addition, they deliver consumer cosmetics and cleansers, including, first of all, washing agents (Merkur and Titan), soaps, tooth pastes and dentifrice (Odol, Thymolin), together with cologne and skin tonics. A significant market share – about fifteen per cent to be precise – is reported in the area of oleochemical products as well. These are delivered both for further industrial processing, or as key products, for production of environmentally friendly fuels and oils. What greatly stimulated the development of Setuza was the acquisition of a part of the former MILO Olomouc plants in 2000. In addition to the raw oil factory and the filling plant in Olomouc, the company owns a production line at Mydlovary near the city of České Budějovice, specialised in the production of rape oil methyl ester. For more information, please contact Ms Marie Longová, Press Spokesperson, phone: 602 531 062, or see http://www.setuza.cz,

Salve Group Ltd. is a UK based holding company, owner of independent companies that deliver financial advisory services, together with financial products, to many retailers in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The individual companies work on an independent basis, focusing on different target groups. Salve Group caters for the companies that report more than 2,000 advisors and 200,000 clients. The list of Salve Group’s companies working in the Czech Republic includes “AFS – Nezávislý finanční poradce”, “Slon”, “PolyCon”, and most recently, “Peníze, a.s.” company, which operates a financial server known as www.penize.cz. Incidentally, the above mentioned server was awarded the Best Web of the Year Prize given by the jury of Prague Internet World exhibition. For more information, please contact Ms Marcela Mokráňová, PR Manager, phone: +421 259 418 268, or see http://www.salvegroup.com.

D. S. Leasing, member of Dimension Group – financial services provider, ranks among the largest private leasing companies in this republic. This joint-stock company has managed to get onto the sixteenth step on the ladder of competitors since established in 1991. (Surprising as it may seem, there are more than 220 leasing providers in the Czech Republic, according to statistics.)
D. S. Leasing provides companies or private persons with financial leasing of transport technology, which means they rent cars, vans, lorries and buses, consequently offering them for sale to the lessees. This product is usually combined with accident and liability insurance policies established under attractive conditions. You can guarantee that there is a wide range of support services, such as assistance with the vehicle registration and handling of possible insurance events. For more information, please contact Ms Monika Suchánková, PR Manager, phone 607 272 783, or see http://www.dimension.cz, http://www.leasing24.cz.