The ball is in our court

How has the real estate investment market been performing in Poland after the quiet start to the year?

Mateusz Skubiszewski, BNP Paribas RE: The real estate investment market did improve in Q2 2024. The Q2 volume significantly exceeded that of Q1. However, the base was relatively low, therefore after the first half of the year, the total market has easily exceeded EUR 1.5 bln.

And has this been an active time for BNP Paribas Real Estate? Which major deals have you advised on or have in the pipeline?

It was quite a busy time for BNP Paribas Real Estate Poland. Cromwell Property Group completed the sale of its six shopping centres, including CH Janki, to Czech-based investment vehicle Star Capital Finance. The value of the transaction came to EUR 285 mln and BNP ParibasReal Estate Poland advised Cromwell on this sale. The trans-action comprised a portfolio of six large-scale shopping centres, including CH Janki near Warsawas well as assets in other cities: CH Korona in Wrocław, CH Kometa in Toruń, CH Tulipanin Łódź, CH Ster in Szczecin and CH Rondo in Bydgoszcz. The shopping centres changing hands have a combined area of more than 220,000 sqm. At the same time, we have been working on a few sale and leaseback portfolios for international groups looking for long-term capital solutions. This is currently a very interesting part of the investment market, offering for both parties – sellers and investors – a lot of advantages indeed.

Did the market activity slow down significantly as we got into the summer holiday period? Or has it been as much as you expected?

I haven’t seen that much of a slowdown in the market activity over the summer period. I think maybe August might be a slower month, as some countries in Europe are pretty much on holiday over this month.

Do the months ahead of us seem more promising in terms of deals and investment volumes? Who are the investors likely to be and in which sectors will they be focused on?

The months ahead of us might be busier – especially Q4, as we all expect some reduction in interest rates in the following months, which should stimulate the investment market. We are especially expecting more movement to occur in the logistics sector in Poland, as investors have already exhibited some activity in terms of deals in Western Europe over H1. Therefore, we expect to attract more to Poland in H2.

I hear that you’re a very keen tennis player. What is it about this sport that you love? Does it inspire you in any way in your work - or is it a way of getting away from it?

I used to be a pretty active player, as tennis is also our family sport, which gives us an opportunity to spend our free time actively with the children. I’d say it’s rather a way of getting away from work, but to be honest, I think golf is much better for this and I’m also happy to share this passion with my daughters. But coming back to tennis, the really nice thing about it is that the match is never won until the last point. You can have a few match points and still lose the game if you don’t make it through, so mentally it’s quite a difficult discipline.

Where are you planning to spend your summer holidays? Do you have any favourite places you like to get away to?

I will spend my holidays actively with my family and our sports activities. As I travel quite a lot professionally, we will probably be focusing on Poland and visiting some nice places around the country.