With tailor-made solutions, AREALIS has managed to prevail over a large number of competitors and, as from now, will take on the property management of the new IKEA Vienna Westbahnhof store, which officially opened its doors on 26 August 2021. AREALIS now manages the first inner-city IKEA store in Europe that has been created in the heart of Vienna with an entirely new and innovative concept.

“Even for us, the concept was exciting from the outset and it’s the first time that IKEA has allocated the management of a property to an external partner”, explains Peter Kranz, Managing Director at AREALIS. “A furnishing store, hospitality and further shops, the combination of a leisure meeting point and a shopping venue, plus the focus on sustainability including roof and facade greening, and all this in the heart of a city, were items that tempted us as property managers. For us as an all-round property management company this makes it possible to exploit our entire expertise and long-standing experience to manage this property in a diligent and sustainable fashion”, Kranz is convinced.

On a total of five levels, the seven-storey building accommodates the IKEA furnishing store. The two upper floors house the Accor hotel brand JO&JOE the hospitality concept of which is especially addressed to young people and business travellers. Enhanced service is provided by four shops (a pharmacy, a hearing device studio, a hairdresser’s salon and a bakery), which had already been located there before. All this is topped off by a unique roof terrace overlooking Vienna and a fully automated warehouse at the bottom level.

Alpaslan Deliloglu, Country Manager for IKEA in Austria, is pleased: “The team from AREALIS has convinced us right from the start. We always felt that we shared the same ideas and pursued the same objectives. We’re looking forward to the collaboration and we’re very pleased to have a skilled partner in terms of property management at our side – especially for this new and unique project.”

Paul Farca, Team Leader of Industrial Properties at AREALIS, is also delighted: “We’re happy to take on this new, exciting challenge and we especially wish to thank Hannes Eichner, Michaela Kurz and Bernadette Stary for the excellent cooperation so far during the start-up phase.”

Moreover, the building of the new IKEA store is a true pioneer in terms of sustainability: 160 trees and bushes altogether – inspired by the Swedish woods – on all four facade sides and on the roof are not only a visual eye-catcher, but also make a positive contribution to the micro climate in the “Grätzl”. Thanks to the vegetation, the neighbourhood can be cooled down by up to -1.5 °C on a very hot day. In addition, photovoltaic systems have been installed on the roof of the building.

“Innovation, digitisation and sustainability are key characteristics of the new IKEA Vienna Westbahnhof. We at AREALIS also firmly pursue these goals and we’re constantly looking for ways of attaining them. All our considerations and efforts focus on new applications and offers for our customers and employees. With IKEA, we have won over a truly excellent customer”, Kranz enthusiastically declares.

Photograph, from left to right:
Paul Farca, Team Leader Industrial Properties AREALIS
Alpaslan Deliloglu, CEO IKEA Austria
Rodolphe De Campos, CFO IKEA Austria
Peter Kranz, Managing Director at AREALIS