Quartier Belvedere

Vienna's ambitious urban development project, Quartier Belvedere, will make its international debut in early October 2012 at the Expo Real trade fair in Munich.

Over the next few years around four billion Euros will be invested in the area surrounding the new central train station of Vienna. Quartier Belvedere is the urban core area around the railway station and covers an area of 25 acres. The close proximity to the historic city centre is just one of the features that makes Austria's largest construction site truly unique. As the name suggests, the Belvedere Palace, with its spectacular art collections, is merely a five-minute walk away. In just ten minutes you can be standing at Vienna's famous ring road. Staatsoper, Stephansdom, Karlskirche, the famous Viennese museums and concert halls are all well within one's reach.

A new centre for modern, cosmopolitan Vienna.
Quartier Belvedere is not an extension of the historical splendour of Vienna but rather its counterpoint: a sophisticated, contemporary centre. "Quartier Belvedere will be the best travelled neighbourhood of Vienna; the true Globetrotter among the Grätzeln", is the vision of the developers and city council. The investors have created a clever combination of offices and apartments, shops and restaurants, culture and education, thereby ensuring that the neighbourhood is vibrant by day and by night, seven days a week.

The project will be presented via its own desk at the "Wien - Europa - Mitte" pavilion. "We have big plans, but we won't get carried away...", explains Gerald Antonitsch, board member of Erste Group Immorent, the largest developer in the Quartier Belvedere project, "...because it will still take several years for this giant construction site to become a lively urban landscape."

Cooperation makes the vision a reality
The vision for the development of Quartier Belvedere is a result of intensive cooperation of the respective owners and developers; collaboration that far-exceeded the physical boundaries of the individual projects. The pioneer investors, which includes Erste Group, Erste Group Immorent, S IMMO, Seeste Bau AG and Strauss & Partner Development, are all currently working closely with the Austrian
Federal Railways (ÖBB) and the City of Vienna on the development of the project vision and marketing. Other investors in Quartier Belvedere may also join this group. In fact, ÖBB only recently sold the major construction site, "A.01", which is situated right next to the new rail station.

Signs of development
The distinctive roof landscape of the main station already runs diagonally through Quartier Belvedere, with partial operation set to commence in December 2012. In just two years this central hub of the European railway network will be in full operation. The Erste Campus project is also already beginning to take shape; located diagonally opposite the baroque Belvedere palace. The new headquarters of the Erste Group is the flagship project for the district and is scheduled for completion at the end of 2015. The construction of homes, offices and hotels is also well underway at the south end of the project. Though not yet realised in their steel and concrete forms, the ideas that will transform this area into an urban centre are already on paper and fixed in the minds of the project investors. World-class plans are already being forged, with an array of cultural, educational and recreational facilities. And those who are familiar with Vienna will know that cuisine and culinary indulgence will also play a central role.

Who's-building-what, and where

SEESTE-Project
The SEESTE group plans to develop a total of eight towers to be located opposite the "21er-Haus" museum, each of which is to be built on stilts, hovering over a green oasis. The project was awarded to the internationally renowned architect, Renzo Piano, whose urban concept is designed to create vistas, views and tastefully landscaped space under the buildings. The project is divided into functional areas and hotel accommodation, and comprises approximately 64,000 m2 gross floor area.
SEESTE CEO Michael Möstl: "It's certainly a novelty for Vienna to have managed to bring together such a distinguished consortium of project developers to successfully develop this new part of Vienna."

Living and working at Schweizer Garten
Erste Group Immorent is developing a multifunctional project on the area between the SEESTE project and Erste Campus. Using the title, "Living and working at Schweizer Garten", the project will comprise approximately 200 high-quality, privately financed apartments and attractive office space, as well as special purpose units. Three buildings have been planned in total, resulting in some 65,000 m2 of gross floor area.

Quartier Belvedere Central
Erste Group Immorent AG, Strauss & Partner Development GmbH and S IMMO AG all formed a consortium to develop the "Quartier Belvedere Central" sub-project. The site is located in the heart of the new district, between the future BahofCity project, Erste Campus and the new railway station. Around 130,000 m2 gross floor area will be created at this site. Friedrich Wachernig, CEO of S IMMO AG: "We are indeed delighted to be part of this consortium, with its highly reputable partners, and thus contribute to the development of what is, without a doubt, the most exciting and promising district in Vienna. As a real estate investor, we see an outstanding potential for our shareholders that is geared towards sustainability, right here in this location in our own home town."
A clever blend of offices, hotels, shops, recreational and cultural facilities will represent the most essential uses of the central site in Quartier Belvedere. The mixture of uses in the Quartier Belvedere Central project will be - also in terms of comprehensive service offerings - developed in various teams from the participating investors. Cross-project urban concepts and open spaces complete the overall picture.

Erste Campus
While the new train station will be the central hub of Europe, the neighbouring Erste Campus facility will be the new headquarters of the Erste Group, thus making it an enterprise location with international significance. Boasting a gross floor space of some 116,500m² on what is now Vienna's old southern train station, the campus will provide work space for at least 4,000 people, not to mention a multitude of service units and leisure facilities. The choice of this location for the Erste Campus was not by mere chance: in former Imperial & Royal times this area was viewed as the gateway to the monarchy and at the same time was the station the Emperor was most proud of. "As the leading Bank in Central and Eastern Europe, we now have our headquarters geographically placed in the direction of these countries. At the same time, we remain true to our origins as a traditional Austrian bank", says Andreas Treichl, board member of Erste Group. Among the most important criteria of the tender, which was awarded to the architect duo Henke-Schreieck, were efficiency, ecological sustainability, and a dynamic and harmonious combination of architecture with user-friendliness. Since the foundation stone ceremony for Erste Campus in June 2012, up to 1,000 workers from more than 100 companies are busy every day on the construction site of the new headquarters, which is about the size of three football fields.