Briefs

GTC announces profits

Globe Trade Centre, the Israeli-financed office, retail and residential developer/investor which operates in Poland, announced profits of PLN 27.8 mln in 2001. The company's net profit in 2000 was PLN 29.3 mln

Warsaw not so expensive

Warsaw is 37th most expensive office location in the world according to a report by CB Richard Ellis entitled ,Global Market Rents". Annual rent in Poland's capital is EUR 466 sqm, far below London's West End, the most expensinve office location at EUR 1,776 sqm. Prague came 72nd (EUR 320 sqm) and Budapest was 95th (EUR 286 sqm).

Marszalkowska 76 tops out

Marszalkowska 76, one of the few city centre office buildings to come on the market this year, has topped out. The 6,990 sqm building was designed by SAP-PROJEKT and is scheduled to open in the 3rd quarter of this year. Investmentment vehicle Marszalkowska 76 Office Center was set up by JFK Development and SAP-PROPERTY, with SAP-PROJEKT acting as deputy investor and BIG Bank Gdanski providing financing. Budexport is the general contractor and Healey & Baker and DTZ are the co-exclusive agents. Asking rent for office space is USD 29 sqm and for retail space USD 65 sqm. There is also an option to acquire the building for c. USD 15.5 mln.

Office rents to remain stable, say JLL

City centre office rents will remain at around USD 28-30, says international property consultancy Jones Lang LaSalle in its March 2002 Warsaw property report. Outside the centre rents, currently at USD 22 sqm, may continue to fall. In the retail sector the shape of the market is becoming clear and it is unlikely that all the schemes currently planned will be realised, the report says. Shopping centre rents have shown a slight dip in recent months and stand at around USD 46 sqm. In the industrial and warehouse sector, although vacancy is at a high of 22%, it is expected to come down in the foreseeable future due to the slowdown in construction activity. The high vacancy rate is driving developers to be more flexible towards tenants.

Echo buys office in Łódź

Echo Investment has purchased a 10,000-sqm office building formerly owned by Pekao Development at the intersection of Pilsudskiego and Sienkiewicza streets in Lódź. Tenants inside the 17-storey building include Commercial Union and Bank Pekao SA.

Hossa to reach 200 million mark

Gdynia-based general contractor and developer Hossa has carried out investments totalling PLN 196 million. The company has built or is building a total of 323,000 sqm, including its flagship 10,676 sqm Centrum Biurowe building in Gdynia.

Waypoint to build office in Krakow

British real estate developer/investor Waypoint has received the construction permit for its 3,500-sqm office building called 'Nowa Kamienica' ('New Tenement House') at ul. Rakowicka 7 in Krakow the centre of Warsaw a couple of hundred metres west of the central railway station. It is hoped construction will start in summer this year. According to the project's architect, Szymon Duda of Duda & Kraus Architekci, the scheme will appeal to tenants not looking for a large space: ,We are counting on local companies, many of whom we know are interested in highly efficient premises", he said. Asking rent is 18 USD/sqm.
Construction is expected to cost in the region of USD 3,5 million, of which 17% will be provided by Waypoint. Co-financing talks with banks are in progress.
Duda & Kraus Architekci is both architect and project manager. Other companies involved are: Day & Johnson as quantity surveyors, WSP Polska as engineering consultants, Gaertner Consulting as legal consultants, and CB Richard Ellis are the sole leasing agents.

Developers with a certificate

The National Chamber of Construction has awarded certificates for the 6th time to developers it considers reliable, well regarded in the market and financially stable. The award is granted three times per year and the certificates last for two years.
4 companies were awarded certificates for the first time: Ebejot from Warsaw, Mat-Bet from Slupsk, Modehpolmo from Szczecin and PIA Piasecki Inwestycje from Kielce. 5 companies received two-year extensions; these were Novum from Kalisz, Kombinat Budowlany from Bialystok, Skarbonka from Zielona Góra, Pol-Nord Dom from Gdańska and Spółdzielnia Mieszkaniowa ,Pax" from Warsaw.

Bank Geselschaft in Focus

Bank Geselschaft Berlin recently signed a lease for 1,400 sqm in Focus (formerly Focus Filtrowe), the Kurylowicz designed office building close to the Politechnika metro stop in Warsaw. This leaves the 34,000 sqm (leasable) building with over 95% occupancy. Asking rents are USD 24 sqm. The bank joins fellow German financial institutions Deutsche Bank and Rheinhyp BRE, plus GlaxoSmithKline, Bristol Myers, Coca Cola and Baker McKenzie. DTZ facilitated the deal.