Why we believe in skyscrapers

These are the conclusions of the ‘Why I believe in skyscrapers’ discussion panel which was held during the 9th Office Market Conference for Poland. Skyscrapers are usually developed as prestigious buildings for important tenants and many companies are still prepared to take the risk to develop them, but these days a successful skyscraper must be easily accessible and user-friendly. According to Szymon Wojciechowski, the owner of the APA Wojciechowski studio, developing skyscrapers is often about the optimal use of land. “More than 800,000 sqm of office space is currently under construction in Warsaw. When buying a plot in the city centre, the lack of available land forces investors to develop taller buildings.” Agnieszka Ciupak, a senior leasing manager at HB Reavis, pointed out that “Skyscrapers need to be mixed-use developments”. According to Jarosław Prawicki, the leasing director at Karimpol, “Convenient access to the city centre is important for most tenants today and it attracts them to a building”. In his opinion, a skyscraper does not have to be prestigious but it should be user friendly. Jolanta Nowakowska-Zimoch, the head of the real estate department at Greenberg Traurig Grzesiak, agreed: “What is important is location and accessibility which are the features that determine how prestigious a building is today. The building will not be so if it is inaccessible,.”

According to Michał Skotnicki, the CEO of BBI Development, location is still the most important factor in the success of a skyscraper and the centre of Warsaw is a natural home for such buildings and Johanes Bauer the managing director of S + B Gruppe, pointed out that his company is currently developing a skyscraper in an investment of around EUR 95 mln on the site of the former Universal building in the centre of Warsaw.