BearingPoint has seized the opportunity to move its Styrian headquarters back to the city after a quarter of a century in the Graz area – the international technology company moved from the IBC at Schwarzlsee to the “Smart City”. “Our move is a clear commitment to Graz as an innovative tech hub,” explains Graz Managing Director Markus Seme. The new location would not only offer state-of-the-art office space, but also direct access to a flourishing technology and research landscape: This would enable development activities to be expanded and cooperation with local universities and companies to be deepened. And: “The improved infrastructure played a key role in our decision-making,” says Country Managing Partner Andreas Unger.
BearingPoint Graz Managing Directors Markus Seme and Reinhard Stockinger © Bearingpoint
For many years, large companies moved to the suburbs of Graz because the large office space they needed could no longer be found in the city. But that is now changing: in the Smart City, completely new space for offices has been created for the first time with the Smart Center Office and the Smart Tower. The buildings each have around 6,000 square meters of usable space, have good transport links – and are already fully rented. Demand is high, says Sigrid Filzmoser, Graz manager at real estate service provider CBRE: “Many companies are specifically asking for office space in the Smart City.” It was difficult at the beginning because the image of the old industrial location was still present. But now it is clear: “Supply creates demand.”
In addition to BearingPoint, which has moved into 3,000 square meters on the top three floors, the Smart Center Office at Waagner-Biro-Straße 102 also houses the KS Group, one of the developers of the Smart City. And in May, Generali Versicherung moved its regional headquarters for Styria and Carinthia-East Tyrol into the building. Sustainability aspects such as ESG compliance and good public transport connections played a major role in the move from Conrad-von-Hötzendorf-Straße: “We are proud to set an example for sustainability and modern working methods with our state-of-the-art location,” says Regional Director Wolfgang Gratzer.
Smart Tower
© Trivalue
All of the office space in the Smart City is now taken – but by 2028, the company plans to deliver 15,600 square meters of additional space on the site of the current Stahl-Eberhardt Hall, the last remaining industrial hall. The Smart Tower at Waagner-Biro-Straße 124 is also fully rented and has been occupied primarily by software companies, but Trivalue, another developer of the Smart City, is also located here. The building’s facilities, which include a fitness room and a roof terrace, have also scored points, says Markus Münzer, co-managing director of Trivalue. “In the past, they only built a tea kitchen. Today, there are social lounges and much more.” As an incentive for new employees, but also as an incentive to work in the office rather than from home.
CBRE expert Sigrid Filzmoser is also unable to notice that the pandemic has changed the requirements: “Overall, the space requirements remain the same despite home offices and desk sharing, because larger areas are being planned for collaboration and creative work.” In the coming years, the supply of these spaces in Graz will explode: At Kärntner Straße 1, “Level KS1” with 5500 m² of office space is scheduled to be completed in mid-2026. And in and on Conrad-von-Hötzendorf-Straße, “one of the most exciting axes,” according to Filzmoser, the “Messequadrant” with 600 apartments and 9000 square meters of office and commercial space will be built by 2025, as well as the large “Graz Mitte” project by Venta with mixed use and the office complex by Granit and Roth near the stadium, which has a gross floor area of 14,600 square meters.
There is still no date for the start of construction for “Das Liebenau” on the Tangente, an office tower with a height of 75 meters, making it the same height as the Elisabethhochhaus, and Reininghaus’ most spectacular building, the Q2 (Quartier Hoch Zwei) with a planned usable area of 43,000 square meters, which will be used for mixed purposes and therefore include a lot of office space. But here too there is still no date for the start of construction.
