Focus Filtrowa becomes largest ever institutional investment

   German insurance company Hamburg-Mannheimer's property investment arm signed a preliminary agreement last month to buy Centrum Budownictwa Filtrowa (CBF) and its Focus Filtrowa building, an adviser to the deal said.

   If the Interior Ministry approves, the move will be the largest ever institutional investment in Polish property, said Thorsten Brudigam, president of German real estate consultants Teamworx. Teamworx brokered the deal between the investor and CBF's owners, Mostostal Export and Instytut Techniki Budowlanej, a state construction certification institute.

   Brudigam revealed no exact figures but assessed the acquisition at "about $100 million." In 1998, when CBF started developing the property between Filtrowa street and the Trasa Lazienkowska highway in central Warsaw, it said the property would cost about $80 million to develop.

   Mostostal Export, which has a lengthy resume in bridge and road building, started developing Focus Filtrowa, its first office development, with no buyer lined up. Mostostal Export set up CBF with the institute to develop and manage the property. "It was speculative," said Brudigam, whose firm advised Mostostal and CBF from the onset of the project.

   Pricoa's $40 million buy of the Atrium Phase-One office building last year had been the largest institutional investment. But Pricoa, the property investment arm of Prudential Insurance, acquired Atrium as a fully leased, operating building. Hamburg Mannheimer, by contrast, gets a structure meant to open this October.

   Given the uncertainties of the local office rental market, Hamburg Mannheimer's move involves less risk than it might appear. Mostostal Export and local insurance firm Compensa has made informal commitments to lease 34,000 square meters, 30% of Focus Filtrowa's net office space, Brudigam said. Compensa's owner is none other than the buyer's own parent insurance company, Hamburg Mannheimer.

   Cafeteria operator eyes factory sites

   Sodexho, the French cafeteria operator, has aimed its Polish expansion strategy at factories and new company headquarters buildings, said Gilles Poirieux, Sodexho Polska's general director.

   Sodexho, which has focused on putting cafeterias in major new office developments with multiple tenants, sees this type of building as near saturation. "The (new) business will come from new headquarters and factories," Poirieux said. "Now a lot of companies will have to make decisions on whether to invest in their own headquarters," he said.

   Sodexho, which operates cafeterias in office buildings, factories, schools and hospitals worldwide, has developed 43 sites here since arriving six years ago, Poirieux said. The company foresees a chain of at least 200 sites, he said, without indicating when Sodexho expects to reach that target.

   So far, Warsaw office sites like Mokotow Business Park, Ochota Office Park and the Pulawska Financial Center have drawn most of the firm's Polish investment. Only nine Sodexho cafeterias are in factories.

   But Poirieux said potential office sites coming onto the market are few. Sodexho's typical cafeteria covers 500 square meters – requiring a large office building. "We need (buildings with) at least 10,000 square meters," said Poirieux.

   The exception is one-tenant buildings, which serve as one company's headquarters. Not surprisingly, Sodexho prefers dealing with a single tenant who subsidizes lunches for its own employees. This makes Sodexho's investment more profitable. Poirieux's sales argument to such companies is "It's not a cost, it's an investment so people will feel well in your company." Sodexho typically shares revenues with landlords rather than paying market rates for rent, he said.

   How do Poles shop?

   Poles prefer neighborhood food stores to supermarkets by a greater margin than any other nation in Europe, according to Healey & Baker's latest survey. Poland also has rather patriotic food consumers, according to the property agency, which questioned shoppers in 13 countries.

   Some 66% of Polish consumers walk to the store where they buy food, the survey suggested. In every other country surveyed, shoppers are more likely to drive, bike or use public transportation. By comparison, only 12% of Belgians normally walk to the food market. In the UK and Germany a mere 17% of shoppers walk to buy food.

   Because they walk – and carry food by hand – Poles shop more often. As many as 65% buy food daily, again the highest percentage in the survey. Only 6% of Germans and 4% of Britons buy food every day, Healey & Baker said. Since they make the trip so often, 61% of Poles also want supermarkets open on Sunday. Only Czechs (72%) shop on Sunday more often. Only 14% of Dutch and 21% of Germans want their supermarkets open on Sundays.

   Poles are also among the most patriotic food buyers, the survey said. Given a choice, 81% choose "made in Poland" products. 81% of Swedes and Spaniards would also select a local food product. The least patriotic are the Dutch: 42% prefer Dutch food.

   Consumer patriotism derives at least partly from Poles' love of fresh food. Some 94% – more than in any other country surveyed – prefer fresh food to frozen equivalents. By comparison, only 75% of Germans and Spaniards prefer fresh food.

   Poles are also the least satisfied with the quality and price of clothes they buy: 77% – again, top of the list – believe clothing stores offer little value for money, according to the survey.