A leader in luxury

Other companies in the ranking are large international companies. Andrzej Brochocki tells WBJ about the reasons for his company's success.

Andrzej Wróbel: How do you manage to compete against international giants and still be successful?

Andrzej Brochocki: We are in a very comfortable position because there is a large number of international companies dealing in consulting and negotiating on the real-estate market, and they mostly compete with one another for a finite number of clients. These are mainly huge exclusive international contracts. If a company is served by one advertising agency in the US, it is served by the same agency in Poland. It's the same way in the real-estate market.

The situation on the real-estate market means most Polish companies have decreased their operations on the commercial market or withdrawn completely. Hence it has turned out that we don't have as much competition from Polish companies as from international companies. Our typical customer is a medium-sized firm from the service industry, mainly lawyers' offices. In that segment of the market we are quite efficient.

Would you say that your company has found a niche then?

Yes. Though we can offer huge office spaces visible from the Palace of Culture and Science, we can also provide small luxury buildings which are not widely known. Of course, we do offer large buildings, and we are able to provide our clients with all the necessary facilities there. But if they want something extraordinary and tasteful, for example a luxurious old tenement, we are able to offer a few to choose from. The number of such offices is limited in Warsaw. Most of them are located near Plac Trzech Krzyży and Aleje Ujazdowskie. In these buildings the rent exceeds EUR 20 [zł.78] per sqm.

In this sector we are a leading company, but quite recently we have also started offering smaller and less expensive office spaces for SMEs. The economic development in Poland facilitates the process of setting up new companies, which will not go to any large commercial-space agents to lease offices, because they are looking for a peaceful location. Hence we have managed to take a leading position, but on the market there are lots of smaller agents who take a large part of it.

What's your market share among companies that offer less expensive offices?

It is hard to define market share because of the fluctuations on the market. It is not possible to estimate the space supply.

How do you see the development of your company within the next couple of years?

We are working on growth and increasing the number of our employees because of rising interest in less expensive offices, but that doesn't mean that we are abandoning the historical buildings that we specialize in.

There are still a number of companies who seek individuality and want to lease offices in medium-sized buildings. They want to be the dominant tenant and have an influence on the shape and administration model of the building. Here we see growth.

How do you evaluate the Warsaw market?

In most countries the population in the capital city exceeds 10 percent of the whole population, and it will also take place in Warsaw. It is just a matter of time.

A significant growth of the population will involve an increase in jobs and a higher demand for offices. The average number of square meters per inhabitant is still much lower than in well developed European cities and the US.

Interviewed by

Andrzej Wróbel