On the 6th of November, the 18th edition of the CIJ Awards competition was held at the Raffles hotel in Warsaw. Torus won first prize in two categories: Best National Office Development -for Alchemia in Gdańsk and Best CSR Campaign – for our ‘Do Nasadzenia’ (Ready to Plant) tree-planting campaign.
The CIJ Awards Poland gala is a renowned and prestigious event on the Polish and European commercial and residential real estate market. The event awards the best investment projects and their teams, as well as innovative concepts and solutions. This year marked the 18th edition of the contest, which had nominated over 130 interesting and outstanding projects, as well as the best companies and agencies operating on the real estate market. The contest was divided into six categories: Development & Developer, Teams & Leaders, Services, Leases & Transactions, Materials and, finally, Creative Spirit. The nominees were overseen by a 20-member jury, which selected 33 winners.
Torus had been nominated for three categories: Best National Office Development (for Alchemia in Gdańsk), Leading Green Development (for the high green standards in our buildings and the certificates they obtained) and Best CSR Campaign (for our ‘Do Nasadzenia’ tree-planting campaign), winning in the first and third category.
In the Best National Office Development category, Torus and Alchemia beat contestants like Cavatina Holding (Carbon Tower & Tischnera Office), Vastint Poland (Business Garden Wrocław), Buma/REINO Partners (Cu Office) and Avestus Real Estate (Łódź Imagine Office).
In the Best CSR Campaign category, Torus and our ‘Do nasadzenia’ campaign outclassed contestants like Cushman & Wakefield (with its Blue Charity Run campaign), Immofinanz (Warsaw Business Run at Empark; Save the Bees), and Panattoni Europe (Nationwide Approach).
The winners were chosen in two stages. The first involved the meeting of the chapter made up of industry experts and leading representatives. All the nominees were presented to members of the jury, after which a secret ballot was held. The second stage comprised of an online vote open to certain experienced members if the real estate sector. By receiving two awards at CIJ Awards Poland 2019, Torus is at the same time competing in the Best of the Best CIJ HOF Awards. The finals gala will be held on 20 April 2020 in Prague, the Czech Republic. The contest will bring representatives from the most important real estate companies from 10 countries in Central and Eastern Europe.
Alchemia - Best National Office Development
Alchemia had been under development for almost a decade – its construction began in 2011, though the design had been proposed much earlier. Alchemia’s subsequent stages were opened every two year: Stage I (Aurum & Platinum office towers, with the sports & recreation zone) in 2013, Stage II (Ferrum & Titanium office towers) in 2015, Stage III (the Argon building) in 2017, and Stage IV (the Neon building ) just recently. The investment project, built on the site of a former chemical plant, has decisively changed the urban character of the Gdańsk suburb of Oliwa and contributed to its development. Alchemia features over 122,000 sq. m of leasable space, with 112,000 sq. m of office space – 1/6th of the entire office space market in Tricity! – and 10,000 sq. m of retail space. Every building in Alchemia is certified under the U.S. rating system for highly efficient buildings, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, at the highest rating - Platinum, with one of the highest scores in Poland. Alchemia was designed by APA Wojciechowski Architekci, with LEED certification consultancy provided by Architects&Consultants / AVA Agnes Vorbrodt&Associates.
‘Do Nasadzenia’ - Best CSR Campaign
The ‘Do Nasadzenia’ tree-planting campaign aimed at restoring parts of the forest in Lipusz that had been brutally destroyed by the extreme storms in 2017. On two Saturdays in October, we brought nearly 1,500 people – employees of various Tricity companies and institutions – to replant 11 hectares. We planted some 110,000 saplings of birch, larch, pine and other species – over twice the projected amount. Our call to action was met with tremendous acceptance and engagement within the business community and by individual people alike. The participants included many of our friends and friends of our tenants, as well as families with small children. There were plenty of games and educational activities allowing many to learn more about the forest and how it affects our lives. We are looking at repeating the event in the near future.
One of the leading commercial developers in Poland, Torus has delivered over 160,000 sq. m of lease space to the Tricity office market as part of several completed investments, with more on the way (Officyna, Format). The company has finalised six sales transactions of its office properties to five different funds (five Arkońska Business Park buildings and three stages of Alchemia) for a total amount of nearly 280m EUR. This makes Torus responsible for the majority (approximately 65%) of the total office transaction volume realised by Tricity developers.
