Warsaw’s centre of attention

Arkadiusz Rudzki, the managing director of Skanska’s office company in Poland: We are working on this project. First of all we need to complete work on the concept that we took over from the previous investor. We want this building to meet sustainable development standards. We are looking at many different options, how to certify it and what systems to install. This plot is directly above the metro and is a demanding site so we have to be careful about how we choose to construct it. We are still working with the Schmidt Hammer Lassen studio, which designed the building’s structure for the previous owner. Once we’ve completed all our analyses, we will definitely choose a local partner as well as this studio so that we can draw up all the detailed designs here in situ.

When is this going to happen?

I think that we should be ready to launch the project by the end of next year. We don’t want to knock down the old building until we have a building permit for the new tower.

So the demolition of Ilmet should start at the end of next year?

Let’s say that this is the time frame we’re aiming at but a great deal depends on the situation on the office market and how the leasing goes for our other Warsaw projects.

Skanska’s also building a skyscraper on ul. Pereca next to Rondo ONZ .

Yes, we are. We had to dismantle the building that used to stand on this plot due to safety reasons. It was attached to a tenement house owned by the city, which is in an extremely dilapidated state.

You once said that you would like to buy it from the city. That it would allow you to build a larger complex...

This would probably make more business sense, but we are also ready to develop a project just on our current site. We have no influence over the city as to whether and when it announces a tender for the sale of their site. Our master plan is for a building of 180m. It is too early to talk about dates as there are still too many unknowns. We have the comfort of owning a number of plots in central Warsaw, which allows us to meet our clients’ expectations. Over the last few years, we have been working to secure the maximum number of the best locations in the central Warsaw for our projects. So we bought a plot on ul. Łucka for Warsaw One two years ago and we bought a plot for Spark five years ago. Around 2012/2013, we also bought a plot for Generation Park. These are all big projects. There is a total of 70,000 sqm in Spark. There will be 85,000 sqm in Generation Park and there will probably be something like 55,000–60,000 sqm in Warsaw One. Our next building at Rondo ONZ has around 35,000–40,000 sqm and Łucka has 40,000–50,000 sqm. When we build with our own equity, we are not constrained by leasing levels as we would be with a bank loan, but we do have to pay attention to tenants and be flexible.

So when are you starting work on the last Spark building?

We will start when we have a client interested in this location. However, if we’re talking about being speculative, we are still waiting to reach a good leasing level in Generation Park. Only then will we start thinking about launching more projects.

You also have a project on ul. Łucka. What’s happening there right now?

Right now on the site there are temporary offices for the construction of our Generation Y skyscraper, but the building on ul. Łucka has already reached the final design stage. We want this project to fit in both conceptually and functionally with the nearby Norblin development. That’s why we’re also working quite closely with Capital Park to create a single functional space. I think we will be ready to give more details about this before the end of the year.

You also have a project in Mokotów – near ul. Sobieskiego, ul. Idzikowskiego and ul. Witosa...

Yes, we do. It is next to the main road entering the centre from the south, which is why we called it Hello. This is the smallest of our projects at 10,000–12,000 sqm. Its surrounding area is changing very quickly. The city is to build a tram line to Wilanów from Dworzec Zachodni along ul. Sobieskiego, so this is definitely also going to improve the transport in the area. We have a building permit but the project, like any other, has to meet market demand.

Is there anything else?

We are also planning to launch the first project that we’ve worked on for a long time in south Warsaw. It’s going to be a 30,000 sqm building above the Wilanowska metro station. We bought the plot a year and a half ago from an Austrian developer, Universale International. We have a building permit and we have completed the redesign of the building. This is another project that lets us diversify our risk and it is not going to compete with our other projects that we are developing in the centre of Warsaw.

Is that it for Warsaw?

No, it’s not. We also bought a plot on ul. Żwirki i Wigury last year at an SKM railway station. It used to belong to an Opel dealer. We plan to build a medium-sized office park there with two or three buildings and a total of 40,000–45,000 sqm. We’re aiming to launch this project in around three or four years from now.