July 4 (SeeNews) - Erste Group has said it officially opened the Sirius Offices business complex in Belgrade after investing 40 million euro ($45.4 million) in the first phase of its development.
The complex occupies a gross office area of 18,500 square metres and besides office premises, it includes a restaurant, retail space and 230 parking places, Erste Group said in a statement on Monday.
Erste Bank a.d. Novi Sad, the Serbian subsidiary of Erste Group, will be the first tenant to move into the new building while the local subsidiary of Austrian builder Strabag has also secured a renting contract for 4,000 square metres of office space, the group said.
"The Sirius Offices project is in line with our strategy to scale up in high-growth cities across Central and Eastern Europe, such as Belgrade, where Erste Bank Serbia has established a firm foothold," the head of commercial real estate at Erste Bank, Richard Wilkinson, said in the statement.
The attractiveness of the project is already proven by a current pre-lease ratio of more than two-thirds of lettable space, Wilkinson noted.
"The Sirius Offices’s ambience was designed in line with a modern approach to the banking business, which is rapidly changing and adapting to clients and employee’s needs. Clients of Erste Bank branch on the ground floor can expect a totally new banking experience," the CEO of the Serbian unit of Erste Bank, Slavko Caric, said.
The second phase of the Sirius Offices project will entail the construction of 12,500 square meters gross and additional 160 parking spaces, Erste Group added.
Erste Group started the construction of the office building in November 2015.
($ = 0.881544 euro)