A busy six months

Now that the news is out that Dutch investor Rodamco has acquired 50% of Galeria Mokotów, by buying half of GTC's shares in the retail centre, Paweł Dębowski, an experienced real estate lawyer directly involved in the deal and for the past six months, President of GTC, overcame his reluctance to talk to journalists and agreed to a short interview.

At the end of October the real estate market was informed that Global Trade Centre and Rodamco were joining forces. What does this mean in effect?

- Apart from selling half the shares in the company owning Galeria Mokotów to Rodamco, we are planning to become involved in other shopping centre projects around Poland.

So not only in Kraków Galeria Kazimierz?

- Yes, and also in other large cites such as Poznań and Wrocław.

The contract with Rodamco was signed a few weeks ago. When did you begin negotiating with the Dutch investor?

- It was a long process which started last year. The talks were drawn out but the deal itself was concluded in just four months, during which the financial details were sorted out.

How much is Rodamco going to pay for its shares in Galeria Mokotów?

- Galeria is worth USD 6.6 mln.

The deal should be closed in the 2nd quarter of 2003. Does this mean that the new co-owner will Galeria's manager?

- That's right. Rodamco will become the new manager and we will retain half the shares in the company which owns Galeria Mokotów.

Will a similar owner-manager relation follow in your other mutual undertakings?

- The arrangement is defined in such general terms that it is difficult to predict the specifics of future deals. However, Rodamco's usual policy is to administer the assets it co-owns so, in all likelihood it will do so in other cases.

In your view, is GTC more successful in the retail or office sector? Unlike Galeria Mokotów, Mokotów Business Park has yet to find an investor.

- Our success cannot be measured in terms of having found an investor, since when it came to office space, we have never looked for one; GTC is an investment company as well as a developer and we remain the rightful owners of our part of the assets. After all, we sold half rather than all of our assets in Galeria. Mokotów Business Park, with its near 110,000 sqm of rented space, makes it the biggest of its kind in Poland but despite last year's market difficulties, we managed to keep almost all our tenants without having to lower our rates. Taurus, [part of Mokotów Business Park], where we are now, is still rented at higher rates (USD 18 per sqm) than our competitors.

Nothing has been heard recently about GTC's other two major projects which are the Okecie Business Park and Galeria Kazimierz in Kraków.

-With the latter, we are waiting for decisions regarding zoning. This is a long procedure because of the plot's urban and architectural requirements, which stem from its national heritage value; the local authorities are very particular about the final shape of the structure and its congruity with its historical surroundings. We are also waiting for decisions from the city planning authorities as far as Okęcie is concerned. An office complex in ul. Wołoska, is also under consideration, with the 11,000 sqm Topaz as its first building.

One newspaper referred to GTC as "the jinx of the stock exchange". How did you earn this nickname?

- I have no idea and I don't agree with it. We are a company with access to public circulation and fulfil all our reporting requirements. We have been monitoring the market carefully and, when we decide that the moment is right, we'll activate our shares on the stock exchange. In the current economic climate we see neither the necessity nor the possibility to do so. No real estate company has issued shares recently.

What are GTC's strategic goals for next year?

- We want to begin construction of Galeria Kazimierz. All our other goals will be determined  by the economic climate.

You have been president of the Globe Trade Centre for half a year now. What do you consider to have been your greatest achievement so far?

-Effort and success are always shared. Signing the contract with Rodamco in such a short space of time meant a lot to me. It took less than 7 weeks to compile all the necessary documentation, which was possible thanks to the experience in investment deals I gained while working for the CMS Cameron McKenna Chancellery. Erez Boniel, from the management board, and I put a great deal of work into it but the initiative and effort from the other side was crucial. Hans Pars and Scott Dwyer of Rodamco were excellent negotiating partners.