Large projects on the horizon

We would like to start the construction process at the beginning of 2016, so we’ll start the demolition of Uniwersam Grochów
earlier. A lot of support is being given to us by the local authorities, for whom the project is every bit as important because it will make it possible to give Grochów district a true centre focused on the roundabout. The retail function will be retained on the first two floors, some of which will be occupied by our partner, Społem. There should be around 11,000–12,000 sqm for retail and services. We are also planning the construction of a large convenience shopping centre targeted at the purchasing power of local residents. This will include two levels of car parks above the retail section for the residents of two 17-storey residential towers that are planned with over 400 apartments. An additional car park for customers of the store will be located on the underground level. In total there will be around
770 parking spaces, 400 of which will be reserved for residents of the complex.

Dantex has also entered a partnership with the Waryński group. Are you satisfied with the cooperation so far and the project that is under construction?

We have just started the construction of the second stage of this project, Miasto Wola. It is selling so well that we are planning to launch the third and the fourth stage at the end of the year. We are in a hurry with this scheme, as other developers are in terms of their projects, because the market is healthy and we want to take advantage of this. Nobody knows when the winning streak will come
to an end in the residential business. We currently need to have own contributions of 10 pct, which will rise to 15 pct in a year’s time. By 2017 the required own contribution for such projects will amount to 20 pct. Problems could start at 15 pct.

The design includes an office section. When will the construction of this start?

Yes, it does. Offices are planned in the final stage, but whether and when they will be built is not yet clear. As an individual firm we have withdrawn from this market segment and are now concentrating exclusively on apartments.

Does this mean that offices are not profitable? How much space in Dantex’s nine office buildings is leased?

100 pct. All our office buildings are leased – this is a total of 40,000 sqm. Bank Polskiej Spółdzielczości has recently moved its headquarters to a building of its own and released a large amount of office space. However, we have quickly managed to re-occupy it. A local court has already moved in and the National Labour Inspectorate is also in the process of doing so. The public sector constitutes a significant proportion of our tenants. This can be the ideal solution for them to optimise their operations. They are looking for areas in reasonably modern buildings, but they want them to be cheap at the same time. And we can offer them good terms. Our buildings are now debt-free, which is why we have a lot of flexibility in terms of shaping rent levels.

And what levels are they?

Around PLN 40 per sqm per month. This is a relatively attractive level, but the market is very difficult. Two years ago, I secured a building permit for an office project at the junction of ul. Wolska and ul. Gizów, but its commercialisation was impossible at a profitable level. So I gave up on the project and it evolved into something else. We are now starting the construction of a residential building with a rather large service and retail section (with an area of app. 8,000 sqm). Its commercial section will be on the ground floor facing ul. Wolska. We are planning to build app. 300 micro apartments on the upper floors, so it will be something resembling an apart-condo hotel. Now we are just discussing the details with its operator. The regular residential section will face ul. Gizów. The design is the work of the Britt-Plan architectural studio, the same one that designed the Dobrolin estate.

Dantex has purchased quite a large plot near the Arkadia shopping centre in Warsaw. When will the construction process get going for this?

We are carrying out the second stage of an estate at ul. Burakowska 16, but this is a very small project – only 26 apartments and two service outlets. It should be completed in a year’s time. However, we have a much larger project right next to it, on a site of over 2 ha purchased from the Municipal Cleaning Company [MPO]. We have started the pre-sales of apartments in the first stage of the Przy Arkadii estate. A total of app. 800 apartments are to be built. The process for obtaining a building permit is now close to completion. So construction work will soon be able to start on the first stage, with a useable and residential area of app. 7,000 sqm. If everything goes according to our plans, we will start the construction of the next stage of the project in the autumn.