It could be you

We quickly came to the conclusion that it would be best to invest it in an office building, of course one that is fully-leased to tenants of stable financial standing. Just as we were saying this, the news came through of the sale of the Focus Filtrowa office building in Warsaw for EUR 117 mln, or around PLN 0.5 bln - a piffling sum, really. So our dreams were shattered. If not an office property, then perhaps an apartment block? Such a purchase could also turn out to be rather costly. And whether it would provide a suitable return on the investment is another story.
The media has recently reported that the most expensive apartment in the world is to be built in Monaco. Its price? A mere snip at USD 280 mln, or more than PLN 880 mln. The apartment is expensive but also quite large, huge even, as it will have an area of 3,000 sqm. The price per sqm is over PLN 293,000. This means that the lottery winnings would only allow us to afford about 100 sqm of it. The penthouse is to be located in the tallest skyscraper in Monaco and the second tallest building on the Mediterranean. Tour Odéon will have a height of 170m and 49 floors.
On our home market it will also soon be possible to live in the clouds. Orco Property Group has just reported that it is planning to complete the construction of the Złota 44 skyscraper in Warsaw by the end of the year. The building will include 266 apartments with areas ranging from 62 sqm to 374 sqm. The average price is considerably lower than the one in Monaco - only PLN 34,000 per sqm. So you will need to spend around PLN 13 mln to become the owner of the most expensive apartment. However, the price could be higher because, according to unofficial information, the priciest ones are to be sold for PLN 45,000 per sqm. Złota 44, which now towers up to a height of 192m, has a competitor in the form of the nearby Cosmopolitan development. Even though its construction started four years later, it will be completed at more or less the same time. The building, which has been designed by Helmut Jahn, will include 252 furnished apartments with an average price of 25,000 per sqm. How will Orco cope with such competition? This will probably only become clear in a few years' time, because neither party currently wants to officially comment on their sales progress. All we know is that since the beginning of the construction process in 2008, Orco has sold less than a quarter of the apartments. Results such as these speak for themselves.
However, Poles do not have to limit themselves to properties in the capital city. If you want to spend a little more on your dream apartment, you can also buy one in southern Poland. Apart from one exclusive address on ul. Senacka (800m away from the Wawel citadel), apartments in the Apartamenty Bogoria project in Kraków are also being offered at eye-watering prices. The investor, Fond Roy, has set the top rate at app. PLN 29,000 per sqm. In Wrocław you could live a little cheaper and on an island. One square metre of the most expensive apartment in Rezydencja Piasek on Piasek Island on the river Odra costs PLN 21,500. Oh well, there is another jackpot today and PLN 3 mln could be won, so the only thing we can do is to buy a ticket. What would be my choice if I won? Wrocław, definitely. The watery surroundings and the beautiful historic city definitely beats glass houses any day.