Tried - and - tested for hard times

Hochtief Development Poland's team hardly ever reveals details to the media of any of their projects, but it appears that it has been preparing a few small projects and the development of a business park in Warsaw. The company has secured a site near an earlier project - the Bank Pekao offices in Lipowy Office Park. The 4 ha plot is situated at the intersection of ul. 1 Sierpnia and ul. Żwirki i Wigury near a railway line that will eventually run directly to the airport. "We expect to acquire the property from the present owner by the end of the year. According to the site development conditions, 100,000 sqm of mixed-use residential and office space can be built on the area. We will be trying to identify parties interested in buying the 10,000 sqm residential section," reveals Piotr Stark, a member of the management board of Hochtief Development Poland. At present the developer is completing the documentation necessary to obtain a building permit. If this happens, the company will buy the land.

Boutique jewels

The final phase of the modernisation project for a small tenement building on ul. Mazowiecka is to be carried out in the fourth quarter of the year. The developer bought the building from the liquidator of the previous owner, Wydawnictwa Naukowo-Techniczne. Around 2,700 sqm of office and retail space, as well as 24 parking places, will be available for the tenants. Currently some demolition work on the four-floor tenement house is being carried out. A general contractor is also now being chosen via a tender. "This project is unique. We are rebuilding a historic city tenement, creating fresh tissue out of old-skin. We want this to be a benchmark for those who would like to modernise old buildings, so that they know how it should be done," declares Piotr Stark. The company is also looking for a general contractor for a neighbouring project, namely the Count Raczyński house on pl. Małachowskiego. The building, acquired from Dom Development for PLN 95 mln, and its new wing will offer 14,000 sqm of office and retail space (the latter may cover up to 1,100 sqm) and app. 100 spaces in the car park located beneath the new section and the courtyard. Hochtief Development Poland has already obtained a building permit for the project, which is to be completed by the end of next year. But rumours are spreading along the market grapevine that the project will be sold. "No comment!" is Piotr Stark's response to such suggestions.

Appetite comes with...

"I'm looking at the city centre Śródmieście district as the place to shop. It's a tried-and-tested location in hard times. Besides, we consider property with easy access to rail and public transport to have the best potential. Nobody wants to waste their time in traffic jams - and the trams, the underground and the trains are an excellent solution in this respect," explains the director of Hochtief Development Poland. The possible purchase of another small office building is in line with this way of thinking. Marymont Corner, with a completed building shell, is located on ul. Popiełuszki in the district of Żoliborz next to a metro station. The ground floor will offer several hundred square metres of retail space and offices are to be built above. In all, it will offer 2.900 sqm of leasable space. The developer is also eyeing land purchases, such as in Powiśle district. In the second phase of the large-scale Nowe Powiśle project, new offices, flats and retail space are to be built, offering a combined area of 50,000 sqm. Will this become the location for another addition to the developer's portfolio? We will have wait and see to find out the answer.