Daewoo tower is sold
After three and a half years of negotiations, US-backed real estate investment and development firm Apollo-Rida Poland finally purchased the Warsaw Trade Tower from Daewoo Engineering and Construction last Tuesday for an undisclosed sum, although the company said that the total price for the building, including refurbishments, would amount to more than €100 million.
"The building is a true landmark of Warsaw and an outstanding architectural and engineering achievement," said David Mitzner, president of Apollo-Rida Poland.
Completed in 1999, the 208-metre, 43-storey building is the tallest office tower in Central Europe. It is generally acknowledged to be of a high technical quality. It boasts the fastest lifts in Europe at two floors per second, but has suffered since it was designed as the headquarters of the now-defunct Daewoo Corporation in Poland. The troubled Korean company's association with the building (until recently also known as the Daewoo building) was another factor. The Warsaw Trade Tower is only 25% occupied with one major tenant, KPMG, which leases 6,000 square metres.
Ira Mitzner, senior vice president of Rida Development Corporation, Apollo-Rida's US parent company, and David Mitzner's son, told the Business Journal that the acquisition was an "opportunistic purchase."
"The issue was not the building; it came down to the sponsorship's lack of management and inability to source the necessary dollars and to market it properly," he said. The company now plans to upgrade both the building and the surrounding area.
Ira Mitzner said that Apollo-Rida's aim now was to have the tower "significantly leased" by the end of 2003. The firm plans to hold discussions with "senior members of the brokerage community to talk about some level of representation," he added.
"The building is a true landmark of Warsaw and an outstanding architectural and engineering achievement," said David Mitzner, president of Apollo-Rida Poland.
Completed in 1999, the 208-metre, 43-storey building is the tallest office tower in Central Europe. It is generally acknowledged to be of a high technical quality. It boasts the fastest lifts in Europe at two floors per second, but has suffered since it was designed as the headquarters of the now-defunct Daewoo Corporation in Poland. The troubled Korean company's association with the building (until recently also known as the Daewoo building) was another factor. The Warsaw Trade Tower is only 25% occupied with one major tenant, KPMG, which leases 6,000 square metres.
Ira Mitzner, senior vice president of Rida Development Corporation, Apollo-Rida's US parent company, and David Mitzner's son, told the Business Journal that the acquisition was an "opportunistic purchase."
"The issue was not the building; it came down to the sponsorship's lack of management and inability to source the necessary dollars and to market it properly," he said. The company now plans to upgrade both the building and the surrounding area.
Ira Mitzner said that Apollo-Rida's aim now was to have the tower "significantly leased" by the end of 2003. The firm plans to hold discussions with "senior members of the brokerage community to talk about some level of representation," he added.
