Polish Business News Magazine

Following the successful design and construction of the Nowe Powisle project in the Powisle district of Warsaw, Menolly Poland has announced the appointment of APA Wojciechowski as the project architect for Phase II of the project. Menolly Poland has also announced the appointment of CB Richard Ellis as the retail agent for the scheme. This follows the earlier appointment of Jones Lang LaSalle as office leasing agent for the 30,000 sq.m. office component of the Nowe Powisle project.

With recent signs of liquidity strains easing and fears of a tidal wave of distressed assets receding following a year of deep uncertainty for the CEE markets, one of the CEE property sector’s top lenders warned that while there were some encouraging signs for the markets in recent weeks the casino is not yet open.

The economic downturn has had a strong negative influence on the condition of the real estate market. The demand for modern office space in Warsaw has significantly fallen with total take up in the first quarter amounting to 45,500 sq m. This indicates almost a 60% drop in comparison to the respective period of 2008. Also the average letting size has significantly decreased to 473 sq m whilst in 2008 it was around 1,167 sq m. At the same time, about 86,700 sq m of modern office space was delivered to the market, bringing the total stock to 3.07 million sq m.

Łódź finally will have its first apartment building for the most demanding customers. Marina is a multi-storey avant-garde building in the shape of a ship moored by the lakeside in the district of Julianów. The first residents will be able to move here in the summer of 2009.

CB Richard Ellis Group, Inc. (CBRE) has announced that Charles Wardroper has been appointed managing director of its business in Poland. Mr Wardroper was previously a regional managing director for CBRE UK where he headed up the UK North East region. He replaces Nigel Wade who, after 8 successful years, is leaving the company.

The announcement of the award categories and jury for the sixth annual Central & Eastern European Real Estate Quality Awards (CEEQA) highlights the role of real estate agents as the hub of the market, with four new Agent of the Year categories, as nominations for the CEE property sector’s elite industry awards were launched on Wednesday at the Corinthia Grand Hotel Royal in Budapest.

Cash is king and quality rides high were the twin messages emerging from the CEE Insight Forum IV: Tropical Storm event in Budapest on Wednesday where over 120 of the CEE property sector’s top financiers, investors, developers and consultants convened against the backdrop of a hike in local interest rates to stave off a collapse of the Hungarian forent.

CB Richard Ellis has announced that Anna Bogdan joined the Retail Team as a Senior Property Negotiator. Her main responsibilities include the creation of marketing and leasing strategies for shopping and factory outlet centres. Anna will be also responsible for market research, consultancy work, feasibility studies, establishing and maintaining databases as well as production of consultancy reports.

CB Richard Ellis has announced the appointment of Christopher Millen as National Director of Capital Markets, CB Richard Ellis Poland. In his new role, Christopher will focus on the strategic growth of the Capital Markets division across the country.

Regional International Monetary Fund (IMF) head Christoph Rosenberg to join Financial Times correspondent Thomas Escritt and some of the Central & Eastern European property sector’s leading operators and business leaders for in depth analysis and debate on the present and future implications of the global economic turbulence on the European and CEE property markets at CEE INSIGHT FORUM IV: TROPICAL STORM, 22nd October, Corinthia Grand Hotel Royal Budapest.

Keen Property Partners, the developer of the Galeria Victoria shopping center in Wałbrzych, has appointed CB Richard Ellis, the global leader in real estate services, as the sole leasing agent responsible for renting the mall. Galeria Victoria will be the first modern retail, entertainment, residential and hotel complex in Wałbrzych and the surrounding region, bringing the first multiplex cinema, restaurants and cafés and many highly-desired Polish and international retail brands to the city for the first time.

The sustainable development, finance and operation of commercial property is one of the main focuses at EXPO REAL 2008, which takes place from 6 to 8 October in Munich. In the accompanying conference programme, experts will be exploring the various aspects of ‘Sustainability and the property sector’, such as the increasing value of sustainably constructed buildings, sustainability in the urban context, and the relationship between sustainability and corporate social responsibility. They will be illustrating their talks with a whole series of best-practice examples. The venue for EXPO REAL – the New Munich Trade Fair Centre – is itself a shining example of sustainability.

CB Richard Ellis announced that Piotr Kopiński was appointed Associate Director and Head of Building Consultancy services for Poland.

International Business Center II, an office building owned by Accession Fund SICAV, an institutional real estate fund based in Luxembourg, developed and managed by Quinlan Private Golub, one of the leading real estate developers active in Central and Eastern Europe, was awarded The CEPIF & International Herald Tribune CEE Best Office Project Award 2008. The competition was an integral part of CEPIF 2008, the largest real estate event in the CEE region, and was dedicated to developers active in the entire region. The winners in each category were selected by the public poll organised by CEPIF. The award was granted at the CEPIF Gala Party which took place on 14 May 2008 at Forteca club in Warsaw.

Europa Capital is an independent specialist pan-European real estate group, which sources, acquires and manages real estate investments through its own resources and an established network of exclusive local real estate partners.

The short list for the 5th annual Central & Eastern European Real Estate Quality Awards for outstanding performance and achievement in 2007 has been announced, decided from more than 300 nominations received in 16 award categories for the best projects, companies and industry professionals across 10 countries in Central & Eastern Europe

An experienced jury containing some of the Central & Eastern European real estate sector’s most influential developers, financiers and consultants has been selected to judge the outstanding achievements and achievers in 2007 for the fifth edition of the Central & Eastern European Real Estate Quality Awards.

London’s West End, Mumbai, the City of London and Moscow are the top four most expensive office markets in the world, according to CB Richard Ellis Research’s semi-annual Global Market Rents survey. The report tracks the world’s most expensive markets as well as markets with the fastest growing rents over the past 12 months.

Quinlan Private Golub, one of the leading real estate developers active in Central and Eastern Europe, will open its first residential property marketing suite in Warsaw on Friday, 23 November 2007. Customers interested in Oakland Park, the exclusive housing development located in Chylice, in the green outskirts of Konstancin near Warsaw, will have the opportunity to discuss details of the investment directly with the sales team and take a closer look at various house designs in the sales office at 68 Piękna Street.

Approx. seven billion euros were invested in real estate in Eastern Europe in 2006, an increase of 21 percent compared to the previous year.

Warsaw is still by far the city with the largest office market in Poland. Almost three quarters of modern A- and B-class office space can be found in the Polish capital.

38 new projects of total area for lease and sale equaling 630 thousand square meters and market value of about 1,3 milliard EURO; active development in all sectors of previous activity; strengthening of the position on Polish real property market; investments in the countries of Middle and Eastern Europe: - these are the plans of Echo Investment for the following years.

Bulgaria and Romania became members of the European Union (EU) on 1 January 2007, and Brussels is also negotiating with Croatia and Macedonia. Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia are considered as additional potential candidates.

The Warsaw Research Forum has published data regarding the Warsaw office market for Q1 2007. The market data prepared by the team concerns the size of the modern office stock, take-up, completions of new buildings and vacancy rates, in two defined areas of Warsaw: City Centre (CC) and Non-Central locations (NC). In order to assure the most thorough market analysis, WRF decided to divide the main markets (CC and NC) into suitable submarkets.

For the second year in a row, MIPIM has set an all-time attendance record. The 18th edition of the international property market attracted 26,210 participants, an increase of 22% over 2006. MIPIM hosted 8,537 companies from 83 countries, confirming its position as the leading annual event for property professionals from around the world.

For the second year in a row, MIPIM will set a new attendance record. Some 25,000 property professionals are expected to attend the event, to be held from March 13 to 16, 2007 at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes, a 16% increase on 2006.

Poland has been described as the 'star performer' of the European property market according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors European Housing Review.

The housing market in Warsaw is booming with prices increasing by around one percent per month. However this could mean in time that no-one is going to want to live in socialist era housing

Hochtief's Rondo 1 is about to celebrate its first anniversary. The building has become a significant landmark in Warsaw, it some ways it seems hard to believe that it has been here for such a short time. Despite coming onto the market at a difficult time when many of us could not understand the logic of a EUR200m development in the centre of Warsaw, Hochtief has been proved to be right and today 90 percent of the building is let.

The 150 million Euro transaction between the Austrian AKRON GROUP and the Apollo-Rida marks one of the biggest single asset office building transactions in Poland in 2006.

Real estate group Quinlan Private Golub and investor Spirit International have announced the start of construction of one of the major shopping gallery in North-Eastern Poland, Galeria Podlaska, in Białystok. Construction is planned to begin in early 2007.

In its fourth year, Central & Eastern Europe’s elite annual property awards event has announced this year’s Quality Awards Jury and award categories. Also announced was the decision to keep the annual gala dinner and awards ceremony at its traditional home at the InterContinental Warsaw Hotel, Poland, ON 20th February 2007.

First Property is pleased to announce the acquisition of Krakowska Distribution Park from Ghelamco.

Demand for modern office space in Warsaw in Q2 2006 was robust with total take-up reaching 119,200 sq m. On a quarter by quarter basis, take-up was 45% stronger, exceeding the previous quarter figure of 82,030. It also exceeded the previously recorded figure of 113,500 sq m in Q4 2005 by 5%. In Q2 2006 the lion’s share of office space was leased again in Non Central locations.

The property investment market in CEE shows signs of being another record-breaking year in 2006. Transaction activity in the first half of 2006 in the more established markets – Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Russia and Slovakia – reached Euro 3.9 billion. This surpasses the total investment volume witnessed in the same period during 2005, accounting for 21% of total investment in the region since 1998.

The first six months of 2006 show signs of the CEE Office market maturing. In 2005 the underlying story for the primary Central and Eastern office markets – Bratislava, Bucharest, Budapest, Moscow, Prague, Sofia and Warsaw – was declining vacancy. As of Q2 2006, the aggregate vacancy rate in CEE has continued to decline, albeit less aggressively. Vacancy now appears to be stabilising at close to 7.6%, only 30 basis points lower than at the end of 2005. Take-up continues to go from strength to strength across the region, increasing in almost every market thus sustaining the falls in vacancy rates.

Klaudia Kocimska's dream is slipping away: She would love to own a small but modern apartment in downtown Warsaw, within walking distance of her office, with a little terrace for savoring long Sunday brunches.

Approximately 30 companies from the Polish real estate industry will exhibit at EXPO REAL 2006. This illustrates in the increasing importance of the trade fair EXPO REAL as a gateway to the increasingly strong Eastern European markets. Cities such as Warsaw and Cracow but also upcoming towns such as Leszno and Katowice are presenting their potential for investors. Regions such as Opole und Wielkopolska are also represented, which are looking for partners for projects. The participating Polish companies represent the complete range of the real estate value-added chain from banks to consulting companies to developers.

The Managing Directors of CB Richard Ellis are proud to announce their recent signing of a lease for 600 sq m (with expansion options) in Rondo 1 building in Warsaw. CB Richard Ellis will be moving to its new Polish headquarters in mid September.

The Warsaw Research Forum has issued its figures relating to the Warsaw Office Market for Q2 2006. The market data prepared by the team concerns the modern office stock, take-up, completions of new buildings and vacancy rates in two defined areas of Warsaw: City Centre (CC) and Non Central locations (NC). In order to assure the most thorough market analysis, WRF decided to divide the main markets (CC and NC) into suitable submarkets.