Capital Park hoping to start Norblin project this year

Compared to 2013, Capital Park increased its revenue from leasing by 42 pct last year. “And this happened in a situation when the leasing revenue of the Eurocentrum office complex in Warsaw could only be calculated for half a year because it was finished in June, while for our project in Łódź it could only be calculated for one month because it was finished in December,” emphasises Michał Koślacz, a board member at Capital Park. The company is also hoping for significant growth in 2015. “About 48 pct of our revenue came from the office sector in 2014, up by 36 pct on 2013. This is due to Eurocentrum,” explains Michał Koślacz. The three first stages of the complex on Al. Jerozolimskie, Alpha, Beta and Gamma, have already come into use. Another, Delta, is due to be finished in November. All the buildings will be connected by a passageway running across the entire complex on the ground floor. In 2014 the company finished the development of a commercial area of almost 50,000 sqm. Capital Park currently has 75 properties with a combined area of 249,000 sqm and valued at PLN 1.6 bln, 79 pct of which is made up of properties in Warsaw. The eventual value of Capital Park’s portfolio should rise PLN 2.8 bln. “Building portfolios is absolutely the future in Poland and a few players are now doing it, with projects ultimately destined to be sold,” says Jan Motz, the president of the board of Capital Park.

“We are currently looking for a tenant for Piano House in Gdańsk,” reveals Marcin Juszczyk, a board member of the company. The office building is under preparation and will comprise 5,000 sqm gla. Meanwhile, a contract has been signed with an international hotel operator for space in Neptun House. Capital Park expects to receive a building permit for the project this month and to start the construction work in Q2. Around 81 pct of the commercial area on the ground floor of the project is already leased.

Capital Park’s ArtN multifunctional project involving the revitalisation and extension of the Norblin factory could start before the end of this year. “A neighbour’s objection to our project was dismissed by courts on March 24th. An appeal can still be lodged with the Supreme Court of Appeals. The neighbour is the tenement house at ul. Łucka 2 and the specific objections to the project include the supposed effect on light levels,” explained Marcin Juszczyk. However, the company hopes that there will be no appeal because according to representatives of Capital Park the complaint is groundless. “The tender to choose the general contractor is in progress and we hope to start the construction work this year,” he added.

The company has also established a joint venture with an undisclosed investor for the redevelopment of two retail projects – in the TriCity and near Poznań. Profitability analyses of the project are now being carried out. “It is becoming more and more difficult to build retail projects from scratch. Instead, it is easier to redevelop, revitalise and recommercialise centres that are a dozen or so years old and do not meet up to the latest standards,” says the president of Capital Park.