Pre-school and nursery at University Business Park

10 May 2022

At the turn of May and June this year, the first Łódź unit of the Fair Play sports and language nurseries will open in the University Business Park office complex owned by GTC. The facility will offer space for 25 preschool children and 50 children in nursery groups.

According to research, as many as 71 percent of employed parents indicate that access to a daycare centre or a nursery is often what they miss the most. The opening of a new place dedicated to children in the very centre of Łódź will serve as a great convenience for the nearby residents and employees of University Business Park.

Fair Play Nursery and Kindergarten is not only the first unit of this network in Łódź, but also the first facility of this kind in a GTC property in Poland. Fair Play pays a lot of attention to every pupil, their main domain being education through sport and foreign language studies. The youngest pupils will enjoy development-oriented games and activities, developed according to an original educational programme, which aims to prepare children for further learning and integrating in society in the best possible way. To maintain the balance between learning and fun, relaxation and calming activities are also offered during the day. The facility will be open from Monday to Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Children from 2.5 to 6 years of age are admitted to the kindergarten, and children up to 3 years of age are admitted to the nursery. Recruitment for all age groups is currently underway. The Fair Play nursery and kindergarten will be located on the ground floor of the University Business Park building B.

Visualization of Fair Play facility

We put relations with our tenants first. We want them to feel comfortable and safe in our buildings, so we are constantly improving our offer. A kindergarten or a nursery in an office building is a great convenience for parents and a chance to effectively reconcile work and family life. From a practical point of view, it saves a lot of time and minimises the CO2 emissions produced by driving around the city and standing in traffic jams

says Karolina Kucharczyk, Senior Asset Manager GTC Poland.

Looking for the ideal location for our first nursery school in Łódź, we kept in mind two aspects: a friendly, nice, safe environment and a well-connected point in the city centre. Hence the choice of University Business Park. We are also looking forward to working with GTC, who proved to be a responsive and efficient partner, open to our needs. We believe that this will be a good, long-term cooperation and we hope that Łódź residents and their children will love our kindergarten

says Monika Kamińska, Director of the Łódź unit of Fair Play nursery and kindergarten.

At the conclusion of the agreement with Fair Play, GTC, the owner of University Business Park, was represented by Colliers. However, the preschool is not the only facility that GTC offers in its Łódź complex. From December 2021 University Business Park tenants can also use an office management application – "Welcome GTC", which facilitates building a local community. It allows employees to book meeting rooms, order meals from local restaurants or take advantage of the retail offer around the building.

Recently, we have been noticing growing tenant expectations regarding the amenities available in their workplace – a café and a shop are no longer enough. As a result, developers have started to equip their investments with a social and city-making features – office complexes have become places where people not only work, but also run daily errands or hang out after hours. This follows the latest trend of introducing the concept of the 15-minute city, where all facilities and the major service points, such as kindergartens, offices or shops are within a 15-minute walk from home or work. The kindergarten located in University Business Park perfectly fits in this trend and will certainly be a great convenience for parents working in and around the building

says Anna Wilhelmsson-Polak, Senior Associate at Office Agency, Colliers.

University Business Park is a complex of two 7-storey class A office buildings with a total area of over 40,000 sqm. With architecturally integrated green patio in its center, the office complex offers a modern canteen and cafe for tenants and guests, as well as a number of amenities such as comprehensive bicycle infrastructure. University Business Park is located in the city center, at 178/180 Wólczańska Street, near the Lodz University of Technology, the Galeria Łódzka shopping center, and the Atlas Arena concert hall. The tenants include, among others: Barry Callebaut, Accenture, UPS, Mobica or Fujitsu Technology Solutions.

About GTC: The GTC Group is a leading real estate investor and developer focusing on Poland and capital cities in Central and Eastern Europe. During 25 years of its activity, GTC has developed 77 high standard, modern office and retail properties with a total area of approx. 1.4 million sq. m through Central and Eastern Europe.

GTC now actively manages a commercial real estate portfolio of 44 commercial buildings providing ca. 761 ths. sq m of lettable office and retail space in Poland, Hungary, Bucharest, Belgrade, Zagreb and Sofia. In addition, GTC has a development pipeline of approx. 220 ths. sq m retail and office properties in capital cities of Central and Eastern Europe, 36 ths. sq m under construction.

GTC S.A. is listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange and inward listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. In 2021, GTC issued its first ESG report, covering the Group’s activity across 6 CEE markets for 25 years. The report is available at www.esg.gtc.com.pl

Media contact: Agnieszka Szczurek, Hill+Knowlton Strategies, agnieszka.szczurek@hkstrategies.com, +48 695 898 208