Volvo Tech Hub will occupy 10,000 sqm of space at Brain Park C. A new section of Volvo Car Poland will be moving into the Kraków office building, from Echo Investment, in three phases, starting in September 2024. In the transaction, the tenant was represented by JLL Polska. In addition, JLL's PDS department also provided support for the project.
Volvo Tech Hub, is Volvo Cars' fourth software development centre. It opened in 2023 in Kraków, Poland and is expected to employ more than five hundred people. The company currently operates Tech Hubs in Stockholm and Lund in Sweden, and Bangalore in India. The Volvo Tech Hub located near Wawel is expected to play a key role in the brand's strategic ambitions and goals. The most important of these targets is to become an all-electric brand as well as a leader in new technologies.
"In March we celebrated the first anniversary of the Volvo Tech Hub in Kraków. Our centre already employs 150 people, and we will eventually employ over 500 specialists. Therefore, it was a priority to find a facility that would support the further development of Volvo in Poland. It is exciting that, already by the autumn of this year, we will invite employees to a modern office, which is one of four such Volvo Cars sites around the world. This transaction, the largest in the office market in Krakow, is a milestone that will significantly increase Volvo's visibility in the city", comments Przemek Berendt, Head of Volvo Tech Hub.
The Volvo Tech Hub will occupy 10,000 sqm of office space on seven floors in the Krakow office. The area of the new R&D centre has been planned, according to Volvo's global standards, and is expected to be the best-in-class working environment for newly hired engineers.
"Kraków is a place with enormous potential in terms of well-educated IT staff, so we understand our client's decision to open a new technology hub here. Our task was to find a location for Volvo that perfectly meets all the office needs of the R&D centre, while at the same time providing the growing company with greater flexibility. We are delighted to have secured an office lease that meets Volvo's expectations and will soon become the global technology centre for such a recognisable international brand", says Agata Suder, Senior Consultant, Office Tenant Representation, JLL Polska.
"JLL is also advising Volvo on technical matters and monitoring the progress of the fit-out of the new office. We are managing the planning and execution of an extremely high-tech space that will combine office as well as research and workshop functions. It will allow engineers to test their solutions on an ongoing basis. We are proud to have been entrusted by Volvo with this transaction, and look forward to working together to create a truly unique space", adds Paweł Młynarczyk, Senior Project Manager, PDS, JLL Polska.
Brain Park provides a total of 43,000 sqm of office space and nearly 10,000 sqm of green space at the junction of Pokoju Avenue and Fabryczna Street, in the centre of Kraków. Its central location near two important traffic junctions, the Mogilskie Roundabout, and the Grzegórzeckie Roundabout, guarantees employees’ excellent connections and convenient access to public transport. In addition, the complex, developed by Echo Investment, is equipped with a number of amenities, including numerous parking spaces, charging stations for cars and electric scooters, bicycle racks and changing rooms with showers.
"We would like to thank Volvo Tech Hub for their trust which is illustrated by the signing of the largest office transaction in Kraków so far this year. We are delighted that Volvo employees will soon move into the office building which will be completed at the beginning of 2025. Their new workplace will be a comfortable space that meets the needs of the most demanding employers and complies with ESG standards", says Joanna Nicińska, Regional Director, Echo Investment.
"From the very beginning of the development of Brain Park, we aimed to create a location that would be an office of the future, which will, along with Kraków’s global reputation, attract innovative companies. The successfully concluded negotiations and the agreement signed with Volvo Tech Hub are the best proof that the high standard of Brain Park meets the most demanding expectations, matches the demanding technical conditions and provides the possibility of flexible development and security", adds Wojciech Mazur, Senior Leasing Manager, Echo Investment.
Brain Park was designed by the Baumschlager Eberle Architekci Kraków studio. The office buildings are partly powered by green energy produced from renewable sources and use energy-saving solutions to reduce their environmental impact. It is also Kraków's first WiredScore Platinum-certified project.
