What can we do for you?

One in six square metres of Warsaw's office stock still doesn't have a tenant and developers are doing all they can to fill their premises. Eurobuild discovers exactly how much they are prepared to do for their rent-paying clients

According to Elwira Zielska, an analyst at Jones Lang LaSalle, most developers try to attract tenants in a very conventional way. The traditional incentives are rent-free periods, financial support with moves and new space arrangements. Though a number of developers are trying to compete by lowering rents, some of them choose higher rents which they justify with the excellent standard and location of their buildings. Marcin Gudz, a King Sturge analyst, adds that sometimes developers are not able to lower their rents, because they are restricted by the banks which loaned them money to construct their buildings.
"The Platan Group have acted unconventionally by creating a facility called the Office-Conference Centre at Centrum Millenium," says Elwira Zielska. "From what I know it is quite popular."

Something for the little ones
Since the beginning of June 2001, The Platan Group, developers of the Centrum Millenium office building, have been offering their tenants small offices for relatively short periods and a minimum of 20 sqm can be rented for as little as one month.
"Such offices can be leased practically at once but of course if a client needed extra partition walls they would have to wait," says The Platan Group's Eliza Szychulska.
A small company can lease an office of 42 sqm and a month long contract comes to USD 1,240 p/m; if the same office was to be leased for five years that amount would be USD 930 p/m. In both cases services are included.
"Is our service similar to that of business centres? Undoubtedly, yes. The smallest office we've ever rented out is 18 sqm," says Eliza Szychulska. "We also offer services such as call connections, photocopying, binding and minor office tasks."

Something for prestige
GE Capital Golub, developers of International Business Centre, aim to attract a different sort of customer and Michał Melaniuk confides that their tenants are often recruited from consultancy, law and financial services firms. "I don't think you can say that there are clear-cut strategies for attracting clients to an office building. Developers act according to market conditions. Are we creative when looking for tenants?" asks Melaniuk. "I think so, and our buildings, which are doing fine in the market, illustrate this best."
Consultancy company PricewaterhouseCoopers is the first major tenant, with 8,000 sqm, to move to International Business Centre. Could such a prestigious client help a developer find other clients? "An attractive first client is always a good advertisement for a building," says Marcin Gudz. "But sometimes smaller tenants aren't always happy if one company dominates the whole building. Apparently, some companies are already referring to International Business Centre as PricewaterhouseCoopers House. Some like this and others are put off."

Something for the wealthy
PricewaterhouseCoopers found their way to IBC as a result of a lease buy-out, which is yet another method of finding tenants, though a rather costly one. Although Melaniuk refused to comment on this, we discovered that GE Capital Group paid Von Der Heyden Group USD 4.5 mln to buy out PwC's lease.
Lately there has been speculation on the Warsaw market that something similar is awaiting the White & Case law firm's lease in the Centrum Królewska building. The lawyers earlier tried to discontinue their contract with the landlord and this led to a dispute and eventually arbitration. In mid-April, White & Case will take up four floors of a building on ul. Marszałkowska.
"We are pleased with the contract," says White & Case's Adam Pawłowicz but he refuses to comment on whether the dispute was caused by his company's desire to move into the Metropolitan office building. Its developer, Hines, could certainly afford to buy out their lease at Centrum Królewska.

Something for the agent
AIG/Lincoln, developers of Saski Crescent, announced a major lease deal recently when they persuaded Jones Lang LaSalle to take up 750 sqm in their building on the corner of ul. Marszałkowska and ul. Królewska. "What do I think of JLL moving into Saski Crescent? I see it as good advertising for the building, which is one of the most attractive in Warsaw," says Gudz.
Indeed, the presence in the building of an expert on the real estate market may well send out the right signals to other potential tenants. Jones Lang LaSalle is itself the agent responsible for leasing Saski Crescent and so far they have acquired one tenant, as well as themselves, in the form of Nykredit bank, who leased 1,000 sqm of office and service space.