Irish investor freshens up its strategy

News recently emerged of the signing of a conditional cooperation agreement between Irish real estate investors Irlandzka Grupa Inwestycyjna, Alterco Group and Reinhold. Three projects owned by the Irish are included in the agreement: the completed Solaris shopping centre in Opole and two retail developments in Toruń and Łomża.
With this deal under its belt, IGI plans to become more active on the market and subtly change the profile of its activities. The company does not currently have any projects under construction, having pulled out of a number of residential and hotel developments; but it is now planning to focus on the retail, office and (to some extent) the logistics sectors.

Only retail and office
Negotiations are currently pending regarding the sale of a number of residential projects and plots for such schemes. An unstarted skyscraper project at ul. Grzybowska 78 in Warsaw has also been put up for sale. Originally it was to offer luxury apartments and some offices; however, after failing to obtain bank funding for the project it has now been put up for sale. The investor received a building permit at the end of 2009 and then later applied to change it. The launch of construction work on Galeria Toruń, a project which is also covered by the agreement with Alterco, is planned for September, after being delayed by half a year due to excavations on the building site. The investor is expecting to receive a building permit within the next month. In January, the Irish received a positive environmental decision for the construction of a road next to the future shopping centre. Significant leases are expected to be signed by the end of March. The third project, Galeria Narew in Łomża, has had a building permit since the end of 2009. The first leases - with Castorama and H&M - have already been signed. IGI is also negotiating with a hypermarket operator in Oświęcim, which is to occupy 85 pct of the planned area of Galeria Zasole. Construction work on the shopping centre could start soon after the signing of the agreement, which is expected later this year. Investment costs for the project amount to app. EUR 11 mln.  Instead of the original plan for a 12,500 sqm centre, Galeria Zasole will have an area of 9,000 sqm. A lease has also just been signed with Tesco, which is to occupy 8,000 sqm in another facility owned by the Irish in Legionowo outside Warsaw. This follows an earlier agreement concluded with Castorama. The investor is hoping to receive a building permit and lease out 60?70 pct of the area of the project by the end of the year. Another result of the change in IGI's strategy is the sale to an anonymous buyer of a plot in  Zegrze, which had been the planned site of a hotel complex with 150 four-star rooms. The land was sold at a similar price to that which IGI originally paid for it. The company is now waiting for the introduction of a land development plan for a plot intended for a hotel development in Kościelisko near Zakopane, consisting of 200 rooms and holiday cottages with a total area of app. 12,000 sqm. A letter of intent has been signed with a potential operator for the five-star facility. The name of the operator has yet to be revealed, but it is reportedly one that is already active in Poland. IGI is also the owner of the recently modernised President hotel in Bielsko-Biała, for which it is currently applying for a permit to carry out extension work.
Emil Górecki