Hail to the victors

The prizes awarded by tenants constitute an important element of the Eurobuild Awards. Users' opinions are perhaps the best and most impartial way of evaluating the quality of a building and the style of its management. At the second Eurobuild Awards we once again decided to team up with respected market and public opinion research institute Millward Brown. The pollsters carried out surveys of the tenants of 54 office buildings, 31 shopping centres and 20 warehouse parks across Poland. Before evaluating individual projects, the pollsters asked tenants what were the most important assessment criteria with regard to the facilities they use. There were few surprises in this case: both the tenants of shopping centres and warehouses considered rent levels to be the most important factor. Location was the most important for office tenants, although overheads were high on the list, coming in as the second most important criterium. Next on the list came the working conditions, the functionality of the building (the possibility of making changes, how environmentally friendly it is and the parking facilities), its aesthetics and the quality of the management. The key elements in shopping centres included the tenant mix as well as the PR and marketing. Parking and the possibility of making changes to the building were also considered important by warehouse users. A list of criteria was drawn up for the tenants to evaluate individual projects by awarding them points on a scale of -5 (total lack of satisfaction with the facility) to 5 (full satisfaction).

Best shopping in Targówek
The management of retail facilities is a difficult art, but it seems that the winners of the best facility management company categories have found a happy medium. Tenants decided that the best managed retail facility in Poland was Warsaw's CH Targówek shopping centre, which in 2011 was managed by Leszek Sybura and later by Michał Bogaczyński of Atrium (the project also won in the Best Shopping Centre in Poland category). "We would like to thank our tenants for this award. We are pleased to have won the trust and appreciation of our tenants through our efforts, despite the difficulty of maintaining the leading position on the challenging shopping centre market in Warsaw. The centre is changing in order to meet the ever more demanding expectations of the client. We take care to maintain a good mix of tenants. This year (2011) we have signed leases with a number of key and important brands such as Douglas, three brands from the LPP group including Home & You, Mohito and Rekids, as well as Orsay and Gerry Weber, which are to join the brands we already have such as Zara, Stradivarius and H&M. This year (2011) Pure Health & Fitness was opened allowing our clients to not only do their shopping but also to keep fit. With the Multikino multiplex the centre, has therefore become a place to spend your free time. Our efforts have paid off - we are attracting an ever greater number of shoppers. We will try to be even better, in order to meet the expectations of the clients of the future," says Katarzyna Cyz, managing director of Atrium Poland Real Estate Management. The centre was one of the first in Warsaw and in Poland when it was opened in 1998. It was extended in 2001. Tenants gave it the highest scores in the following categories: tenant mix (4.52 points), the appearance of common areas (4.56), signage (4.6), store revenues (4.64) and service (4.76).

A building Đ not a commodity
The trophy for the best management company and the best office building went to Mermaid Properties and its Cross Point project in Łódź. The developer has come up with its own recipe for success. "Perhaps this will sound trivial but we always try to be close to our clients, listen patiently to their needs, solve their problems and develop direct relations with the staff. On the one hand this results from the personality of the people working in our company, on the other from the philosophy we have adopted. A property is first of all a service for us and not a commodity. We try not to charge our clients each time a plug or a bulb needs changing. And we often help them with unusual situations," explains Radosław Sieroń, president of the management board of Mermaid Properties. Why does he think Cross Point was the building of the year in the eyes of tenants'? "You simply need to try twice as hard on such a difficult market as Łódź. Cross Point is a flexible and efficient building. It has excellent additional amenities in the form of an extended and professionally managed fitness club, a large canteen serving delicious meals and a spacious lobby," claims the president of Mermaid Properties. And what did the tenants appreciate the most? The highest scores were given for the pleasure that working in the building provides (4.8 points), the appearance and the atmosphere of the lobby (5), the services and amenities (4.6), and rent levels in relation to the size and the quality of space (3.75). This last one was the lowest scoring category throughout the entire survey with an average score of only 1.63 points for all the office buildings surveyed. The office category that received the highest scores was the internal lighting of the building. In this case the average score was 3.72 points. Interestingly, Cross Point in this section was not among the top three projects; however, it made up for this in the other categories and ultimately beat off the competition.
Not only did Grzegorz Zawada collect an award for Cross Point, but a statuette for best manager was also awarded to Anna Sienkiewicz from Colliers International. She is in charge of the Grunwaldzki Center office building in Wrocław. Tenants considered it the best office building of 2010 in the first Eurobuild Awards. So we asked her: What traits should a good facility manager have? "Listening to the tenants, helping them with everyday problems and - most importantly - being at their disposal. It is important to respect the terms of the leasing contracts, but one should also simply be a human being and understand the needs of others. A good facility manager should be demanding towards subcontractors, yet at the same time able to appreciate the work and effort of its partners," explains Anna Sienkiewicz. What advice would she give those in the same line of work? "It is worth getting away from the desk sometimes in order to meet the tenants. Even a casual conversation is enough to build positive relations. And then solving the problems becomes easier. In our work we often have a difficult role because we represent the needs of both the client and the tenant - and these are sometimes divergent. The most crucial thing in office building management is to provide a high quality of service and security. But there are difficult moments in a facility manager's life, including the various failures and breaks in the supply of services (office tenants really do not like this), but prompt announcements and reactions make it possible to relieve the tensions," says Anna Sienkiewicz.

Two times lucky
How to be the best on the market? Warehouse developer Panattoni Europe, whose Panattoni Park Mysłowice complex was chosen as the best warehouse facility in Poland for the second time, certainly knows the answer to this question. "This award confirms the uniqueness of the project itself and the quality and variety of services provided by Panattoni Europe. Facility management also involves the ability to select good and reliable subcontractors, anticipate tenants' needs and to solve all the different kinds of problems connected with the functioning of the facility. We would like to thank our tenants wholeheartedly for appreciating our efforts," says Anna Kordos, head of property management at Panattoni Europe. The Mysłowice complex received the highest scores in the following categories: location, warehouse infrastructure, working conditions in the facility and the office space located within the warehouse park.

CH Targówek
opening/extension: 1998/2001
area: 31,006 sqm gla
outlets: 140
tenants: H&M, Zara, Home&You, Mohito, Pure Health & Fitness, Orsay, Gerry Weber, Multikino
developer: TK Development Polska
owner: Atrium Poland Real Estate Management

Panattoni Park Mysłowice
opening of the first building: 2007
area: 133,580 sqm
total area planned: 200,400 sqm
tenants: CAT, Coca-Cola, DPD, Inter Cars, Intermarché, Manuli Hydraulics, Magneti Mirelli, PartnerTech, Rohlig Suus Logistics, Ruch
developer: Panattoni Europe
owner: Panattoni Europe, Credit Suisse (one building)

Cross Point Łódź
opening: 2010
area: 12,500 sqm
tenants: Nordea AB Bankowy Fundusz Leasingowy, Saude Health & Fitness News, TVN, Onet.pl, Zumi, Konica Minolta Business Solution, Mostostal Warszawa and Trust
developer: Mermaid Properties
owner: Bridgemere Group, Mermaid Forum Fiz