Plus Tower

Polkomtel in Warsaw Trade Tower? We learned from a reliable source that negotiations for the lease of 25,000 sqm are at an advanced stage

If the contract is signed, Warsaw Trade Tower will be fully leased and the revenue from the rent will fill the pockets of the new owner, Apollo-Rida Poland. The contract will then stand a chance of being the transaction of the year.
In the January issue of Eurobuild Poland, we published an article about the purchase of WTT by Apollo-Rida. When asked about leasing its vast expanses of space, its representative, Rafal Nowicki, gave a concise answer: "We're optimistic". Did he have in mind the ongoing negotiations with Polkomtel, the Plus GSM network operator?

No comment
According to the information which has been going around the real estate market for some time now, Plus GSM has also expressed an interest in other Warsaw buildings, including the Metropolitan, constructed by Hines. Mieczysław Godzisz, Hines Director for Poland, neither confirmed nor denied his company's contacts with Polkomtel. "We won't comment before the end of the negotiations." The agents are not inclined to talk about this tenant either, since they themselves are or have been involved in negotiations with the Plus operator. Most of the people we interviewed merely confirm the company's interest in the lease of large office space.

A tasty bit in a starved market
Polkomtel currently has three locations in Warsaw: in the FIM Tower building at the crossroads of ul. Chałubińskiego and Al. Niepodległości, in Plaza 2000 in ul. Wołoska and in the Promenada complex in ul. Ostrobramska. Not surprisingly, the management of Polkomtel are working towards gathering all their employees under one roof.
"We are having a look at the market but it is too early to talk in terms of certainties," said Ryszard Woronowicz, press spokesman for Polkomtel. He, however, refrained from answering many other questions we posed, though we did find out that the official announcement will be issued only after the deal is closed. From the point of view of any developer it is a deal to die for.
"The companies which look for big space have an incredibly strong negotiating position. However, the great majority of them, which includes Polkomtel, make the mistake of looking for new headquarters too late in the day," says a real estate specialist. "The decision to look for a new location should be made 3-4 years before the move. Then companies have a chance of finding fully efficient buildings which meet all their requirements. Otherwise, although big clients win in terms of rent and floor arrangements, their choice is often limited by what's available on the market, and effectively don't get what they could get."