STRABAG Real Estate dedicates Plaza shopping mall and Atrium International office building available as shelters for people arriving from Ukraine.
- Since the outbreak of war in Ukraine, the STRABAG Group in Poland has been active in helping refugees from that country.
- In cooperation with the City of Warsaw, the development company STRABAG Real Estate has so far prepared space for 200 beds in the Atrium International office building. As of Sunday, 180 people have been accommodated here – families with children, the elderly, and the disabled.
- The developer has also donated the interiors of the Plaza shopping center to the City of Krakow authorities and charities. It will provide shelter for 300 people.
- Both buildings are being adapted for aid functions by STRABAG.
On Friday, 4 March 2022, STRABAG Real Estate allocated over 700 sq m of space in the Atrium International building to the City of Warsaw free of charge for the creation of 70 accommodation places for refugees. On Sunday evening an additional – 1,500 sq m and on Monday – 1,100 sq m, making a total of more than 3,300 sq m of rooms that can ultimately accommodate up to 400 people. In order to best accommodate the refugees, STRABAG Group has prepared additional showers and kitchens in the building. Further construction and renovation work is underway in the Atrium and, if necessary, the owner will make further parts of the building available to the city.
“On Sunday 6 March, the first bus with 40 refugees from Ukraine seeking refuge in our country arrived at the Atrium office building. Tonight another 140 people arrived. We will successively provide the city with further adapted spaces in the building, which will accommodate a total of around 400 people in need. In Kraków, in turn, around 300 people will also find accommodation in specially prepared rooms in the Plaza shopping center. ‘Our colleagues from the STRABAG construction company are working very efficiently, and thanks to smooth cooperation with the authorities of both cities, who are equipping the facilities with food, beds, mattresses, sleeping bags and other necessary equipment, we can quickly provide assistance to those arriving from Ukraine,’ informs Łukasz Ciesielski, Managing Director of the development company STRABAG Real Estate in Poland.
In the Plaza gallery in Kraków, on the other hand, the developer has made over 3,700 sqm of space available for the storage, sorting, and delivery of clothing as a first step. These premises were already handed over to the city last week. The STRABAG Group has also prepared part of the first floor of the building, with a total area of around 5,000 sqm, where 300 beds are planned.
“We are ready to adapt the designated areas in the facility by the end of this week and donate them to the activities carried out by the aid organizations. The sleeping quarters on the first floor are ready. We are finishing the kitchens and laundry rooms and installing showers and toilets in the bathrooms. In this way, we will create a temporary residence in Plaza for people waiting for their final accommodation in Krakow or those who are going on a further journey,” adds Tomasz Wiszniewski, Director of the Southern Branch of the construction company STRABAG.
Following the outbreak of war in Ukraine, the STRABAG Group issued a special statement in which it unequivocally and strongly condemned Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, stressing that it contradicts fundamental moral principles, international law, as well as the organization’s values of: Solidarity, Partnership, Commitment, and Respect.