Jury Awards

Union Investment has acquired the Maraton office building, which was completed at the end of 2016, for its open-ended retail real estate fund UniImmo: Deutschland. Skanska Property Poland, an office developer, has thus sold one of the most prestigious office buildings in Poznan, Poland. This is the second sales transaction between Skanska and Union Investment in regional markets in the country following the sale of the Dominikanski office complex in Wroclaw, which is also held in the UniImmo: Deutschland portfolio.

Maraton is a modern office building offering some 26,000 sq m of rental space and a flexible space concept. LEED Gold certification is being sought to document the sustainability of the property. The Maraton is one of the most sought-after new builds in Poznan thanks to its high level of construction quality and location in the central business district. Its tenants predominantly come from the service sector and include ROCKWOOL, IT service provider Sii, APS, Bridgestone, Century Link, Duni European Finance Function, REHAU Business Services and Naspers with its OLX online marketplace.

The Maraton office building extends over eight storeys, two of which are basement levels. It offers 301 parking spaces, some of which can also be used for electric vehicles. The new build is located in Poznan city centre near the old town. It is easily accessible by both private and public transport via major traffic routes.

“Our strategy for Poland involves broad diversification of our real estate portfolio. Poznan is our tenth investment location in the country,” said Martin Schellein, Head of Investment Management Europe at Union Investment Real Estate GmbH. “The Poznan office market has excellent growth prospects, so we are delighted to hold such a high-quality property in a central location.” Following this acquisition, Union Investment now holds 16 properties in Poland across the office, retail and hotel sectors with a total value of some EUR 1.6 billion.