Swedish Skanska starts work on three-building Green Court office compound in Bucharest, Romania

Swedish real estate construction company and developer Skanska has started work on its 52,000 sqm office project Green Court in Bucharest, Romania. The three – building scheme, on 12 stories each, will require an investment of EUR 46 million, and completion is scheduled for the fourth quarter in 2014. Skanska, which is also the general contractor for the project, will start with a first phase of the investment, which will comprise a building on 19,500 sqm of leasable area and the underground car park for two buildings of the compound. Skanska’s first office project in Bucharest is located on Gara Herastrau Street in the Floreasca-Barbu Vacarescu area, one of Bucharest's main office sub-markets. The building developers plan to turn it into an easy to reach destination for office workers, with a nearby metro station, as well as bicycle storage, showers and changing rooms in the building itself. Other sustainable development features will be added, such as a highly energy efficient facade and occupancy lighting sensors. Similarly to all Skanska's other projects in the CEE, the complex will apply for LEED 1 certification. The first phase of Green Court Bucharest has already obtained LEED Gold pre-certification. The company bought the land plot in 2012 from Romanian businessman Gabriel Popoviciu, according to Romanian media, in a deal worth some EUR 14 million, and received construction permits end – 2012. The LEED Gold certification is the second highest award from the US green buildings rating system, which awards points for low environmental impact, sustainability, energy efficiency and many other categories. “This is an important market for us, where we see great potential and have long-term plans. […] We have received a number of inquiries from potential tenants who are looking for high quality and sustainable products in an established business location. […],” said Andreas Lindelöf, President of Skanska Romania. Part of the Skanska Group, Skanska Romania has been operating since 2011 and aims to develop more office space in the country, all built to meet the LEED environmental certification standards. Globally, Skanska has financed and developed 1.9 million sqm of commercial space, has more than 500,000 sqm of modern office buildings in development and is planning to start building a total of 200,000 sqm of new space in the next two years. Headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden and listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange, Skanska has 57,000 employees in Europe, the US and Latin America. The company posted some EUR 13.8 billion in sales in 2011. editor@romania-insider.com (photo source: Skanska)