United Benefits Holding is entering the Polish real estate market with the acquisition of the 16,000 sqm Silver Forum office building in Wrocław. The company plans to optimize the property with a focus on ESG standards and mobility, thus leveraging the property’s value-add potential. The price of the asset has not been disclosed.
United Benefits Holding plans to redesign the facade and restructure the interior to allow for more flexibility and multiple uses. A manage-to-core strategy will be adopted to reposition the property in the marketplace as a "new work property".
Michael Klement, CEO of United Benefits Holding commented: “We are delighted to have acquired an attractive commercial and office property in Wroclaw with the Silver Forum. Wroclaw is the third largest city in Poland. The country with the lowest recession rate in the EU – this is another factor that persuaded us to enter this market over the long term.” With its subsidiary Invester United Benefits as project developer, the Group aims to develop the property architecturally and with a view to fulfilling sustainability requirements, so the Group can reposition it on the market. The expansion and conversion plans provide for a variety of public areas for incentives and meetings. Healthy, sustainable restaurants will also be established here to make the Silver Forum attractive for tenants, users and the entire neighbourhood. “We want to take the overall quality of experience to a new level and reduce ongoing operating costs for tenants in the long term. Our experienced subsidiary EKAZENT will handle the asset management,” says Klement.
The office building was built in 2007. The property, which covers an area of more than 9,000 square meters, has around 16,000 square meters of usable space on seven above-ground floors. The underground parking garage in the basement offers 165 parking spaces, and there are 133 more on the surrounding site. Access to the building, with its U-shaped floor plan and two distinctive glass towers, is provided from three entrances. The investments, including the Capex package, focus mainly on the facade design, creating a green facade, and other sustainability concepts. Floor space is being structured more flexibly, spatial and technical facilities are being modernized and upgraded, and heating technology is being improved. The future floor space concept opens up connected spaces for large companies, fully equipped flex offices and high-quality communal areas for small startups or companies that are only temporarily based in Wroclaw. United Benefits Holding is aiming for full occupancy of the property as part of repositioning it on the market. There are also plans for certifications such as LEED and BREEAM IN-USE.
UBH plans to use its services not only for its own projects, but also to offer them to other companies that are already active in Poland or intend to enter the market. "Sometimes there is a lack of resources or certain areas of expertise to successfully implement a project. Or there is a lack of specific market knowledge. We want to close these gaps with Invester United Benefits and Ekazent Management in Poland by bringing in our know-how and the vast experience of our employees in this market to analyze and optimize projects holistically," states Klement. Whether as a developer or asset manager, he says United Benefits Holding's goal is to provide real estate companies with a comprehensive service that supports them at every stage of the project. "We are convinced that our services will help other real estate companies in the Polish market to establish - and expand - their business."
