Wola the leader

An excellent location, a perfect tenant mix, high footfall and just the right number of parking spaces. These, among other factors, are the conditions that determine the success of a shopping centre. as It turns out they are best fulfilled by Wola Park in Warsaw, which was opened in 2002

Zuzanna Wiak

For the first presentation of the Eurobuild Awards, in the Tenants’ Awards section it was Wola Park that walked away with the title of the best shopping centre in Poland. For this award tenants were surveyed in  30 centres located in Warsaw, Łódź, Wrocław, Kraków, Poznań, Gdańsk, Katowice, Szczecin, Bydgoszcz, Gliwice, Opole, Płock, Bielsko-Biała and Dąbrowa Górnicza. Out of all the questions asked, the winning facility received worse points than its competitors in only five areas.  It did not receive the highest number of points for access to public transport, losing out to such centres as Złote Tarasy, Galeria Bałtycka and Galeria Łódzka. It was also given worse results for car access, where Pogoria, followed by Galeria Dominikańska and Silesia City Centre, came out on top. In addition, Wola Park fell short of Magnolia Park in terms of accessibility of parking spaces and comfort of use. Another of its weaker points was judged to be its visual attractiveness, losing out to some stiff competition in the form of Poznań’s Stary Browar.
Lessons learnt
“We treat tenant satisfaction surveys carried out by independent research institutes as a very important source of feedback with regard to our work on managing the centre. This is why we are happy that Wola Park did not receive the highest number of points in five out of several dozen questions. At the same time, we now know, thanks to the tenants, what we should work on. Of course the possibilities for change in some of these areas, such as the location or the number of parking spaces, are naturally limited. However, I think that the location of Wola Park in Wola, one of the most densely populated districts of Warsaw, and with convenient transport links, is a great advantage. It is similar when it comes to the number of parking spaces – Wola Park is among the best Warsaw shopping centres, offering over  3,000 spaces. We are continuously working on the visual attractiveness of the centre and making the interiors more pleasant, changing the decor and the area around the facility.  Service charges are calculated according to our internal regulations and their amount depends on the space leased, with the rate based on the percentage share in the total maintenance costs of the centre,” explains Antoni Krzątała, president of the management board of PBW Polska.
The vital statistics
According to the survey, which was carried out by Millward Brown SMG/KRC, tenants considered the following aspects to be the strongest points of Wola Park: the tenant mix in terms of the quality, the type and size of the shops and service outlets (4.53 points out of a maximum of 5), the selection of key tenants (4.53 points), the number of people visiting the shopping centre (4.53 points), the visual communication (plans, arrows, signs – 4.6 points),  the rents (4.67 points), the layout of the centre (4.53 points), the facility managers (accessibility, reaction time, understanding of needs, presence – 4.53 points), and the maintenance and conservation of the building (4.53 points), among other factors.
Wola Park, which is situated on ul. Górczewska, was developed by the Central European Retail Property Fund and Auchan. In July 2007, the centre passed into the hands of the  PBW II Real Estate Fund, which appointed  PBW Poland as facility manager. The mall has a total area of 73,000 sqm, of which 40,380 sqm is retail space and 2,750 sqm is offices. The centre was designed by Thailander. The most important tenants of the facility include Multikino (over 2,000 sqm), RTV Euro AGD (1,500 sqm), the first H&M outlet in Poland (1,770 sqm),  Reserved (1,130 sqm), Zara (1,120 sqm), Charles Vogle (1,100 sqm), C&A (over 1,000 sqm),  KappAhl (941 sqm) and Empik (854 sqm). In total there are over 180 stores in the two-storey gallery. “The Eurobuild Award is proof that the key to success in fostering cooperation between the facility manager of the centre and its tenants is based on mutual benefits, consists in partner relations, an individual approach, effective communication and long-standing experience in property management. We are not planning to rest on our laurels and will continue to look for new solutions and set new targets for ourselves,” adds Antoni Krzątała. ν