Tenants appreciate quality

All the key commercial projects in Poland were surveyed for the tenants’ awards: 55 office buildings, 33 shopping centres and 19 warehouse facilities. These had been selected by real estate agents and industry experts. Millward Brown then carried out a survey of the tenants of the buildings to find out which properties were the crème de la crème – since it is their opinions that count most in such an evaluation. They were asked detailed questions concerning the locations, rents and fees, marketing and technical issues, the tenant mix, the management and the infrastructure. The questions were answered anonymously by awarding points ranging from -5 (the lowest) to 5 (the highest). Consequently, the winners were selected in three categories: offices, shopping centres and warehouses.

For comfort and functionality
The award for the best office building went to Tulipan House (17,895 sqm of leasable space), a class ‘A’ office building on ul. Domaniewska in Warsaw’s Mokotów business district. The building was completed in 2008 and in the same year was purchased by the HausInvest open real estate fund, which is managed by German company Commerz Real. “It is a top quality building in an excellent location and its architecture makes it very recognisable,” says Alexandra Luise Mann, the head of real estate markets for Central and Eastern Europe at Commerz Real. Its tenants decided that the facility was the most functional and comfortable of those surveyed – and it is mostly in this respect that it left its competitors behind. It also scored highly for its car park (481 spaces in a two-storey underground car park with some spaces for guests outside the building), as well as for the modern technologies that have been applied in the building and for its architecture. “The facility has a unique stone façade and a most elegant wooden finish. The lack of structural columns makes it possible to arrange the area better (4,500 sqm on one floor), while the relatively narrow shape of the building means that it is well lit by natural light. As a result, a lot of tenants say they feel at home here,” explains Sebastian Świstak, an associate at Savills responsible for the leasing of the building. Since the agency was contracted to manage the facility and lease its space in 2012, 70 pct of its tenants have prolonged their contracts. The renegotiations were carried out at a good time, when the Mokotów market was only starting to become competitive due to a number of newly-built projects. “Our great success was down to the fact that the owner and ourselves were quite flexible about the leasing conditions and reacted to the changing market conditions quickly,” explains Sebastian Świstak. In this way they managed to keep most of the tenants. Huawei not only stayed in the building but also increased the area it leases from 2,900 sqm to 3,900 sqm in the summer of 2013. Teleperformance leased an additional area of 780 sqm and currently occupies 2,010 sqm. The company signed a total of eight contracts in a dozen or so months. Investment in the building also made it possible to reduce operating costs. Tulipan’s excellent scores for its value-for-money ratio and the owner’s friendly approach during contract negotiations, as well as the quality of its management, combined to seal the facility’s success. It is currently in the process of being BREEAM-in-Use certified at the ‘Very Good’ level – a certificate its owners hope to obtain this year. Finishing closely behind the building in the survey were Katowice Business Point and Zebra Tower in Warsaw.

Galeria Echo leaves rivals trailing
Galeria Echo sprinted to a first place finish in the Shopping Centre of the Year, Poland category, considerably ahead of the competition. The mall, which has been open since 2002, underwent a thorough modernisation in 2011. It was judged superior to its competitors in 28 respects and came second for the remaining five questions. It received the maximum number of points (five) as many as ten times: for its location, car park, footfall, catering offer, technical aspects of the building, architecture, signs, mobile applications to provide location services in the mall, as well as the quality of the management and maintenance of the building. “This is certainly a most pleasurable and important distinction to receive from the tenants. The award is the result of the involvement of many people at the stages of designing the facility, its commercialisation and its management. The entire management team of Galeria Echo is very engaged in enabling tenants to implement their business goals. We have been consistently implementing a marketing strategy to stimulate sales. The fact that tenants have chosen Galeria Echo as the best mall in Poland is proof that we cooperate with them effectively in many fields – both in terms of the leasing aspects and the marketing activities,” says Wojciech Knawa, the director of Echo Investment Property Management. But it is its cooperation that the mall is mainly praised for. “There is something going on all the time and this is what attracts customers. As far as recent campaigns are concerned, the ‘Night of Shopping’ was a success. Even though we did not have a single promotional campaign in our shop, it gave the sales a great boost. The results surprised everyone. Clearly this campaign was carried out professionally and was effectively promoted,” says Anna Kogut, H&M’s shop manager in the centre. The award is no surprise to another large fashion tenant of the mall. “Galeria Echo has a great tenant mix and it greatly outdoes other centres in the town. As a tenant we are satisfied with our cooperation with the management of the mall and the turnover we generate,” said the manager of one of the largest stores in the mall, who wished to remain anonymous. It is also significant that the mall received the award for Best Shopping Centre Manager this year, too. So it seems that this recognition is more about the management’s approach to tenants rather than just successful marketing campaigns. “We are always open to tenants’ needs, such as in difficult situations when tenants ask us for support. Instead of leaving them alone with their problems, we sit down together and talk,” says Wojciech Knawa. He also emphasises that with the competitive market conditions we have today, it is important in cooperation to go beyond the parties’ obligations resulting from their lease contracts. “Our tenants understand perfectly that without their considerable involvement we would not be able to implement a marketing strategy expected to actively increase the footfall and customer satisfaction. Only in this way are we able to reach the common goals of tenants and the facility owner,” emphasises Wojciech Knawa. The runners-up to Galeria Echo in Kielce were Magnolia Park in Wrocław, which came second, and Silesia City Centre in third place.

Because they listened to tenants
The Warehouse of the Year, Poland award went to Prologis Park Sochaczew. The complex consists of six buildings with a combined area of over 100,000 sqm. “This is a medium-sized park and tenants feel good in such facilities. They also have a dedicated manager in the form of Prologis. And due to the large areas leased there, the leasing terms are also attractive,” claims Roman Skowroński, the vice-president and head of property management for Prologis in the CEE region. In 2011 Procter & Gamble prolonged its lease of 49,000 sqm in the centre, while DHL Exel Supply Chain stayed on in its 16,800 sqm of premises and increased the area by 5,400 sqm. “This is a well designed logistics park and is functional with the great advantage of a location close to Warsaw and the A2 motorway. For us the developer's flexibility plays an important role which makes it easy to expand,” states Piotr Okurowski, director and board member of DHL Supply Chain. “These are demanding but very professional tenants who can appreciate the organisational efforts on our part. We listen to our clients and try to address their expectations,” says Roman Skowroński. Indeed, the park received one of the highest scores from tenants for the quality of management. And not only that, the tenants also appreciated the railway sidings, the car parks and the manoeuvring squares, as well as the quality of the warehouse space itself, including the office areas. However, the key to its success turned out to be the lack of any actual weak points, which made it possible for the facility to obtain the highest average score in its category. The Sochaczew complex beat the Manhattan Business & Distribution Centre in Warsaw into second place, while Panattoni Park Stryków came third.