Fame-seeking Belgians

POLAND One Belgium's oldest developers, Immobel, which was established 145 years ago, now has its sights trained on the Polish market once again. Over the next few years the company wants to become one of the major players in the country. "Poland will become our second biggest market after Belgium. We are planning to buy more attractive land in Warsaw this year," reveals Paul Busse, the head of the council of directors of Immobel. This is to be the company's second foray into the Polish market. A few years ago, under the guise of Waresco (the main shareholder of which was Compagnie Immobiliere de Belgique, which transformed into Immobel in 2008) it built the Sienna Center office building in the Polish capital, before selling it to the Europolis fund in 2010.
This second attempt at making a splash on the Polish market has started with some notable forays into the retail sector. Immobel has bought stakes in two projects from Centrum Development & Investments Poland (CDI) for app. EUR 30-40 mln: the Cedet shopping and office building in Warsaw (formerly Smyk) and the famous Okrąglak tower in Poznań designed by Marek Leykam. The Eastbridge Group is behind both CDI and Immobel, being the holder of 100 pct of the shares in CDI and also the largest single shareholder in Immobel with a 25 pct stake (until autumn 2013 Eastbridge has the option of purchasing another 5 pct of the developer's shares).
Bartłomiej Hofman is now the head of the Polish branch of Immobel. "I would like our company to become one of the top three developers in Poland over the next few years. On average we want to carry out three projects a year in Poland, with a total area of app. 60,000-100,000 sqm," says Mr Hofman, the managing director of Immobel Poland, who moved to the Belgian company from Europolis. One of the tasks that he is now faced with includes securing the land for future projects. "There are a lot of properties for sale in Warsaw, which is where we are focusing. We just need to make the right choices. It is the price and the potential of a plot that count most," he explains. Immobel wants to focus mainly on office projects, but at the same time it is not ruling out the development of residential projects. This is a difficult market but, as Bartłomiej Hofman insists, every project depends on having a good location and effective promotion. "I believe that there is still room for interesting residential projects in Warsaw," he claims.

More challenges
However, the purchase of suitable land is not the only challenge that the company needs to face in the next few months. A more important factor could be assembling the right team. The majority of the work will be carried out by CDI's own team; however, specialists with experience in development will be needed for new office projects. "We are trying to find the best people possible," declares Bartłomiej Hofman. At the same time, the company is aiming to utilise the existing potential of the properties already owned by CDI. In the case of the Poznań project, which comprises Okrąglak and the "Kwadraciak" building located nearby, apparently all that needs to be done is to finish the construction work. CDI Poland, which will also cooperate with Immobel in each stage of the development process, is to be responsible for its commercialisation. Since March this year, Elektrobudowa has been carrying out the construction work on the project, which will include an office area of 6,800 sqm and 800 sqm of retail space. The completion of the develoment, the cost of which is estimated at EUR 12 mln, is planned for April 2012. The first tenant of the building is a company from the financial sector, which is to occupy 874 sqm of office space on the -1 level, the ground floor and the first floor. The Warsaw project, however, will require more work, as Cedet is listed as a historic building. The Andrzej Chołodzyński architectural studio is working on the detailed design for the adaptation of the building and the planned extension. According to Bartłomiej Hofman, the company is to announce a number of new projects later this year.
AND, RG