We recently visited one of Budapest’s newest ESG-focused office developments, the Millennium Gardens.
The Millennium Gardens Office Building is one of the most sought-after office development projects of 2022—and rightly so.
As TriGranit’s latest development, this office building represents the first realized element of Revetas Capital’s ESG & 2040 Carbon Neutrality strategy. What makes it special is that the entire building has been designed with maximum consideration for sustainability and future environmental expectations. It’s no secret that the developer has been collaborating with the Parkl team on several digital mobility services, such as parking and electric vehicle charging, from nearly the beginning.
This collaboration provided the backdrop for an engaging conversation between Balázs Magyar, Parkl’s Business Development Director, and Károly Dömötör Makk, Leasing Director at TriGranit. Their discussion covered various office market trends, sustainable smart buildings, and of course, smart parking and e-mobility.
Balázs Magyar: We have regarded TriGranit as a market innovator with a long history since we started working with them on digital solutions in the real estate sector. Therefore, working together on the Millennium Gardens office building has been both an honor and an exciting project. I’d be curious to know what trends you have observed that justified the openness to smart parking and charging?
Károly Dömötör Makk: Office development projects are characterized by long-term planning rather than short-term periods. We need to meet tenant demands that arise over long-term commitments, as tenant companies plan to establish their bases in new locations for at least 15-20 years. ESG considerations are becoming increasingly important in the lives of major companies, including minimizing carbon emissions and energy consumption.
Since we’re discussing a city-center office building, the tenants had high and dynamically changing expectations regarding parking spaces, so optimizing these was a primary consideration in the building’s design.
The parking area is the first and last place colleagues encounter: it’s crucial that this provides an excellent customer experience and meets the sustainability aspects of the ESG concept. Therefore, it was key for us that our tenants could efficiently, quickly, and automatically occupy their parking spaces, charge their electric vehicles, or book parking for their guests through the Parkl app.
B.M.: You mentioned that tenants have a high and dynamically changing demand for parking spaces. Do you think this is due to Covid, which has resulted in hybrid working, or is it a trend: greater well-being, more cars, and people driving everywhere?
M.K.D.: This is a globally observable trend where cars are becoming more accessible year after year.
Covid further amplified the trend of people traveling alone to avoid public transport, but more importantly, it has influenced hybrid working and changes in commuting habits. Working from home for 1-2 days a week has become widely accepted, and desk sharing has become a common phenomenon in almost every company, especially in multinationals. These demands have prompted us to implement a digital parking system where rebooking parking spaces, canceling reservations, or charging electric cars is accessible with just a click.
B.M: From an operational perspective, why did you choose digital parking?
K.D.M.: As mentioned earlier, we wanted to create a 21st-century office building. Therefore, the first and last impressions that visitors have of the building are very important. We considered RFID card access outdated; it requires stopping, reaching into your pocket, and sometimes doesn’t register well, which is not comfortable.
In contrast, Parkl’s license plate recognition camera works reliably, displaying on a large screen where each person should park. Since our tenants wanted to use their parking spaces dynamically, we knew that an Excel spreadsheet couldn’t handle this demand anymore. Even if it could, it would be a much more administration-heavy process, where everyone emails their arrival time, and someone has to allocate it, instead of focusing on what they should be. Parkl, on the other hand, provides a comfortable, well-organized system. We wanted to implement in our office environment what we have personally experienced as developers and leaders.
M.B.: Why did you choose Parkl?
M.K.D.: There were several reasons. Firstly, Parkl’s references were the most convincing. We had tried it in other office buildings and used the app in several locations around the city, so we knew it was a well-organized, reliable system. Besides the extensive references, another reason was the personality of the people involved in the business, the expertise, and flexibility of the Parkl team.
The decision also included environmental considerations. With the rise of EVs, it was crucial that parking and charging be available in one system. Parkl could provide this and even took on the installation and operation of charging stations.
M.B.: Since e-mobility came up, what have you experienced on the tenant front? What are the demands related to it?
M.K.D.: It’s a well-observed trend that the proportion of electric cars is increasing among general transport means. We anticipated a certain proportion, but it’s already clear that many tenants are also setting up dedicated electric car charging stations at their own expense.
M.B.: In the office building, employees from Henkel, MSD Pharma, Provident, and Fressnapf are already using the Parkl app for parking and electric charging. How have tenants received Parkl, and what feedback have you received?
M.K.D.: Our impression was that it’s already an essential requirement; it would have been problematic if it weren’t available.
In my opinion, Parkl should be a basic service in every office building.
Anyone developing office buildings knows that such forward-looking solutions are essential because it’s not enough for the building to be attractive and in a good location if its service level falls short of the building’s quality. Parkl can guarantee impeccable, top-quality parking even in an A+ category office building of nearly 40,000 square meters.
Thank you to TriGranit for the trust and cooperation!
If you believe that your company or office building also needs smart parking and electric charging, contact us at sales@parkl.net or visit our website.
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