A song for many voices

Opole is best known for its annual song festival, but when the festival lights go out, the city does not go to sleep. Investors, including those from the real estate industry, claim the city has more to offer than just pop songs

Although Opole is a relatively small city with a population of only 128,000, it enjoys the status of a provincial capital and sits in an attractive location on the borders of Germany and the Czech Republic – as well as along important transport routes, including the A-4, which forms part of the international Berlin-Kiev highway. Convenient airline connections exist, with international airports in Wrocław and Balice near Kraków, some 100 km from the city. The question is: will these plusses translate into the growth of the local real estate market?

Enviable housing achievements

Opole’s residential developers have proved their enterprise mettle. 528 homes were delivered between January and June this year, while prices have risen 20 pct since the beginning of the year and vary between PLN 3,800 and 4,500 per sqm. The reason for such dynamic development activity in Opole is the growing prosperity of its inhabitants, many of whom have found employment in Holland and Germany.

The largest residential developments include the De Leack Real Estate of Holland. Leaked information reveals that the company purchased a 12-ha plot near ul. Północna and ul. Wrocławska from the Agricultural Property Agency for PLN 15 mln, where the Tulipany estate (around 2,000 flats) is to be built – according to Opole city council. This land is covered by a local spatial development plan, which means that obtaining a building licence should be a mere formality. This Dutch investor is also expected to go ahead with a new sports stadium in the city, although a final decision has yet to be taken.

A Polish company bearing the foreign-sounding name of Harris&Loyd Development has plans for an estate, large by Opole’s standards, with the attractive name of Festival Park comprising four buildings with 250 homes lying between ul. Wrocławska and ul. Partyzancka. But it is not only the name that is attractive. The homes come in a range of categories with original sounding names also intended to draw in customers: Supersingles 34 sqm in size, Debuts from 45 sqm and Festival Stars between 60 and 65 sqm. Prices have been set at PLN 4,390 per sqm.

The International Development company is to build somewhat less expensive flats on ul. Rejtana. The price of each of the 130 flats to be ready by mid-2008 will be between PLN 3,500 and 4,500 per sqm. The Rembud company is to start work on Osiedle Słoneczne on ul. Krzemieniecka this October which will consist of 144 flats in four 4-storey blocks. The floor space of these apartments is to be between 36 and 73 sqm, with as many as 40 pct of the homes in this project to be bed-sits, since Opole’s citizens prefer small flats. Similar to other developments, per sqm prices here will not exceed PLN 5,000. The planned delivery of the whole estate is next autumn.

New lease of life for cement factory

Yet another interesting housing project is the investment planned by Tommi, where formerly the Bolko cement factory of the early 20th century once stood. Three new 3-storey buildings will contain 48 apartments of between 31 and 80 sqm, with the estate also holding 6 service outlets and a car park for 58 vehicles. There are also several historic industrial buildings on the 4-ha site that have already partly repaired and rented. Czesław Włodarczyk, the owner of Tommi, claims that: “I have been purchasing the land of the former cement factory for more than ten years, being wholly committed to its revitalisation. This is why I shall develop lofts and two museums – one devoted to the site and also a warehouse as a museum for old cars – as well as the buildings already reconstructed.

City with a future

There is still a lot of land in Opole assigned for residential development. A plot of more than 84 hectares on ul. Wrocławska and Kokota – of which 4.5-ha are city property and 80-ha are privately owned – is earmarked in the local development plan as land for housing estate development. Unoccupied areas also exist where the old Groszowice cement factory once stood (8.92-ha), as well as on al. Solidarności, where the building of single- and multi-family homes is envisaged.

Clearing a shopping battlefield

Modern shopping centre have yet to be opened in Opole, but this will change next year when two new malls will welcome their first customers. At the moment only a few hypermarkets exist, each having small galleries (e.g. those owned by Real and Tesco).

A shopping centre with the temporary name of Centrum Handlowe Opole will be developed by Irlandzka Grupa Deweloperska in the very heart of the city on pl. Kopernika at a cost of EUR 50 mln. Keyinvest will be responsible for the technical supervision, financing and leasing of the mall on behalf of IDG.

The centre will have 19,500 sqm on three storeys, while there is to be a multiplex in a building already existing next to the mall.

These buildings are to be connected by a single façade and corridor so that cinema buffs can do their shopping on the spot. The JSK Architekci studio was responsible for designing the complex. Magda Derwisz, IDG director for commercial properties, comments: “ It’s going to be a very exclusive place – apart from retail outlets there will be a Gymnasion fitness club of 300 sqm and a cinema of 6000 sqm space, the operator being Kinoplex. Our project has won the approval of tenants, with 76 percent of the centre’s space already being rented. The largest tenants are Alma with 2,200 sqm, Zarav 1,600 sqm and Euro RTV (1,300 sqm).”

Karolinka is definitely no dwarf

This Irish developer’s project, which is now under construction, will open next autumn, clashing with the plans of its competitor: Mayland Real Estate (MRE).

MRE has taken up the gauntlet in the battle over Opole’s shoppers in an ambitious manner and decided to develop in this city of 120,000 people a 65,000 sqm shopping centre. It will comprise two buildings: Karolinka and Karolinka Home (a 25,000 sqm centre of interior fittings). There are to be a total 150 outlets in both buildings. The centre will be situated on a 21-ha plot on ul. Wrocławska (the main route to the motorway and planned city ring-road). These two centres – from IDG and MRE – are located far from each other which at least ensures that they will target different customers. IDG will attract shoppers in the city centre, whereas Mayland RE’s catchment area is more the outskirts of Opole. Market research undertaken by these rival companies concludes that their respective catchment areas (of around 3 km in radius) may embrace as many as 150,000 people.

Yet another shopping centre will be developed in the Turawa outside Opole by Helical Poland. The project is to provide 37,500 sqm shopping space, 10,000 sqm of which will be occupied by Carrefour and Praktiker hypermarkets. Construction is to begin in the spring of 2008 and finish a year later.

Another company – Caelum Development was also intending to invest in Opole but their planned development of the Estrada shopping centre has now been shelved. Mirosław Cechowski of Caelum Development marketing section explains: “The purchase of a building site proved impossible, so we did not pull out of the project as we never actually started work on it.”

Taxation savings

Maciej Wujec, the director of the City Economy and Promotion Department, is of the opinion that the city has no authentic office space to boast about. The only solution for companies operating in the region is to have their own head office built for them. Only two larger office buildings can be located in Opole city centre: the 10-year old office of the PZU insurance company and ING Silesian Bank.

In practical terms there are also no modern warehouses. The only rented space for individual companies’ stores and warehouses can be found on ul. Głogowska, ul. Częstochowska and ul. Wspólna; however, the city has set aside around 43-ha of unoccupied land for such investments. The council is also planning to establish a sub-zone of the Wałbrzych Special Economic Zone – a 62-ha site between the North ring-road and ul. Partyzancka. Investors will be able to count not only on the site’s comprehensive technical infrastructure, but also on a system of tax concessions. Investors active within the city can also count on fiscal allowances, with IDG’s shopping centre on pl. Kopernika one of the developments to benefit from the scheme.   

Zuzanna Wiak