According to LinkedIn, you’ve been professionally involved in the real estate market for almost as long as ‘Eurobuild’ has existed. We could shake hands on that! What event from the early days of your career has stayed with you the most, and why?
Daniel Bienias, the managing director of CBRE in Poland: That’s an interesting story. In that case, yes – we can certainly shake hands, and I hope we can both agree that those years have passed beautifully. But to answer your question, what really stuck with me were the events of 2008 and the global financial crisis. The flow of information back then wasn’t as smooth as it is today, and there was a great deal of uncertainty – no one knew what to expect. However, as time has shown, both Poland and the real estate sector emerged much stronger from it.
How would you compare what was happening on the market 25 years ago to what we’re seeing today? What has changed the most?
Virtually everything. The entire real estate market has undergone a total transformation. The pace and scale are incomparable. The number of projects, client awareness, the way we work, our use of modern tools – the list is really long. On the one hand, the Polish commercial property market now boasts over a quarter of a century of history; yet on the other, it’s still relatively young compared to Western markets, which means it still holds great potential and dynamism. This year also marks a milestone in CBRE’s history – we’re celebrating our anniversary in Poland too. You can see that our paths have complemented each other beautifully.
What has surprised you most in terms of the sector’s development? What did you least expect when you joined CBRE 15 years ago?
What has surprised me is the resilience of our market to geopolitical upheavals – and that’s certainly a major positive. As I’ve mentioned, the Polish market weathered the 2008 global crisis, the Covid era, and the war in Ukraine in relatively good shape. It continues to demonstrate great resilience – and long may that continue. When one sector slows down, another speeds up. I’ve also been surprised by how quickly the real estate market absorbs technological innovations. Recently, AI has stormed into our industry. Fifteen years ago, even the most forward-thinking futurologists in the field would never have predicted the sheer progress made in adopting technological advancements.
And what else could still surprise you? What can we expect? From your perspective, and based on your observations at CBRE, where is the market heading?
I really like the saying: ‘Expect the unexpected – and be prepared for it.’ There’s a real art to forecasting, but also to reacting dynamically and adapting flexibly to changes when they can’t be predicted. I think it’s a good mindset for business – and for life in general. Looking into the years ahead of us, I believe we’ll continue to see very dynamic growth in the residential market – the demand for this kind of product is still very high. What remains uncertain is the role of the state or local authorities in that process. I hope the warehouse sector will once again demonstrate how important a role Poland plays – not only in our region but across Europe. Another interesting direction for development are so-called alternative real estate assets, such as student and senior housing.
Any advice for us for our next 300 issues?
I think your long and successful history clearly shows that you know exactly what you’re doing – so I don’t believe you need any advice from me.
