OLAND "If an investor comes to us and says they have a problem, we simply solve it," declares Maciej Gołębiewski, the leasing and marketing director for developer Avestus Real Estate. The company is also in charge of the commercialisation of the Wilanów Office Park project in Warsaw's Wilanów district, which is being carried out by another developer, Polnord. Lipiński Passage - a renovated tenement building in the heart of Warsaw - provides another example. The owner of the office property, the German-based Union Investment fund, has ended its cooperation with Savills and chosen a developer, S+B Gruppe, to complete the leasing process. Is this normal behaviour?
Send in the professionals Polnord, which is listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, specialises in residential construction. In the new residential district of Miasteczko Wilanów in Warsaw, it plans to build a business complex with eighteen buildings and a total office area of 140,000 sqm. In the spring of 2009, Cushman & Wakefield was chosen to be the exclusive leasing agent of Wilanów Office Park (WOP). What has happened since then? P.R.I. Pol-Aqua moved into its first building and Asseco Poland into the second one, and now the developer is looking for tenants for the third block (?B3'), with Avestus Real Estate dealing with the commercialisation. "It turned out that we needed somebody to deal with the project on a larger scale than an agency that specialises in the leasing of offices. In this case the point was to promote Wilanów not only as a residential area but also a business district," explains Michał Świerczyński, vice-president of the management board of Polnord.
Trust pays off "In Poland everything started in 2011 with our Zebra Tower office development on ul. Mokotowska in Warsaw when it was bought by Union Investment, which turned out to be happy with working with us," says Izabella Kieler, the head of leasing and marketing of Lipiński Passage and the head of leasing and marketing at S+B Gruppe in Warsaw. "Our cooperation with S+B is good, long-term and built on solid trust, not only in Warsaw, but also in Vienna, where we also purchased the Solaris office building from this partner. It is now 100 pct leased," confirms Fabian Hellbusch, the head of the real estate marketing and communication department at Union Investment Real Estate. In August S+B Gruppe, acting on behalf of the owner of the Lipiński Passage building, opened a show office in the building to attract tenants interested in offices with renovated interiors. A three-storey retail area of app. 400 sqm and office space (starting from as little as 60 sqm) awaits interested parties. "We have leased over 230 sqm to Polish Alternative Investments, and we are going to sign further lease agreements for app. 400 sqm of office space and 100 sqm of retail space soon," reveals Izabella Kieler. In her opinion clients prefer to talk to one person, who invites them to the show office, takes them around and allows them to view the areas for lease. This is also the person they can negotiate the leasing terms with. S+B Gruppe has also been working on new projects. It has been two years since the completion of Zebra Tower. The construction of the Hilton by Hampton hotel on ul. Wspólna (on the corner of ul. Chałubińskiego) should start before the end of the year and a building permit for a small office building on ul. Królewska is soon set to land on the desk of the head of the company. Apart from Lipiński Passage and Zebra Tower, the portfolio of Union Investment also includes the Horizon Plaza office building in Warsaw's Mokotów district, which is managed by Colliers International. "Agents are needed and we are very willing to cooperate with them, but on a different basis than in the past - one that is more attractive for both parties," declares Izabella Kieler.
Multi-tasking for developers "We have now finished the first stage of the Enterprise Park project in Kraków. Next year we will get the second stage underway. Meanwhile, the Warsaw project we had in our portfolio has been sold to Griffin. So I do not see a conflict of interest here. I notice, however, that the profile of developers' activities and their scope has been changing. Avestus often takes on the facility and asset management of the office buildings we have completed," explains Maciej Gołębiewski. In the case of Wilanów Office Park, Avestus Real Estate is in charge of the marketing and leasing. Its latest successes include leasing contracts with HDS Polska,
Levi's and CSL Behring for a combined 2,000 sqm in the ?B3' building. And do the costs compare to those of an agency? "The costs are the same as those for an exclusive commercialisation contract for a project with an agency. However, we can provide a better quality of services at the same price," concludes the vice-president of Polnord.
Ewa Andrzejewska
