Japanese gov't symbolizes long-term commitment with purchase signal
The building will be the first in Warsaw to be owned by the Japanese government, which has had diplomatic relations with Poland for 80 years.
Currently, the Japanese embassy is renting the first floor, which is 2,260 square meters, in the Atrium building.
But owning will be cheaper than renting.
"It's much cheaper in the long run," said Yoichiro Yamada, first secretary of the Japanese Embassy in Warsaw. "We will be here for 100 years perhaps."
Construction of the new embassy, located on an approximately 10,000 square meter site, started in January and completion is expected in the summer of 2000, Yamada said. However, the embassy won't leave its current home until the fall of next year. "Our contract expires in November 2000," Yamada said.
The building, which will be 6,500 square meters, will have three stories above ground and one underground, said Shigeru Nakae, head of the Polish office of Takenaka, the general contractor for the project.
The new structure will be designed as a modern office building. "It will not look like an old Japanese building," Yamada said. "It will be a practical, functional office building."
The project will cost an estimated $20 million.
The new embassy is the fourth project undertaken by Takenaka in Poland. The company also built the Japan Art Center in Krakow, buildings for Daewoo Electronics in Pruszkow and a training center for Toyota Motor Poland in Warsaw.
New Praga profile
Local landlords and property agents are hoping that the Centrum Millenium office and retail development in Warsaw's Praga district will raise the profile of the area - and property prices.
"I'm happy, I strongly believe that it will increase the prestige of Praga," said Leszek Klin, president of the supervisory board of Dom Handlowy Praga, which owns the Rainbow Center, an office and retail building in Praga.
Klin said he would welcome Centrum Millenium even though it will compete directly with his Rainbow Center.
"More buildings like this and the area's prestige is going to be higher," Klin said, adding that the part of Praga across from central Warsaw should see prices rise as a result.
Centrum Millenium, a $20 million retail and office project to be located at the corner of Targowa and Kijowska streets, is being developed by Top 2000 and is expected to be completed by the end of this year, according to Jones Lang LaSalle.
Although most Warsaw residents consider Praga to be a down-at-the-heels section of the city, the agency said the project would have a superb location and will benefit from the fact that it will be the first modern retail and office building in the area.
"The location, it cannot be better in Praga," said Magdalena Fratczak, a retail agent with Jones Lang LaSalle. Centrum Millenium will be located on busy ulica Targowa close to the Swietokrzyski bridge, which is now under construction, and to the planned Port Praski project, she added.
Like Klin, Fratczak hopes that Centrum Millenium will give Praga a boost. "Life in Praga will concentrate there, people live there after all," she said.
Fratczak said she was confident that all 7,400 square meters of retail space, housed on two floors that will include two banking outlets and a fast food restaurant, will be leased before construction ends. The six-story building will also have 7,900 square meters of office space. The asking price for both office and retail space is $25 a square meter per month.
But the Rainbow Center's Klin said Centrum Millenium would be lucky to get such rates. That building, which contains 10,000 square meters of renovated space, had to switch its focus to office area after retail letting proved disappointing.
The Rainbow Center is now offering office space at slightly below $20 per square meter and retail space a slight premium to this level, Klin said. Rainbow Center expects to be fully let this spring with an inflow of new tenants that will include daily newspaper Zycie, he added.
Different approaches
Two U.K.-based real estate agencies have taken quite different strategies toward developing their brands after mergers with U.S. partners.
Since its merger with American firm LaSalle Partners was finalized March 12, Jones Lang Wootton has undergone a name change. It is now Jones Lang LaSalle.
Healey & Baker, which merged Feb. 22 with U.S.-based Cushman & Wakefield, got to keep its name, but is now using a "new visual identity" or logo for those not familiar with brand-speak.
Jones Lang LaSalle's name change occurred because the new trans-Atlantic company's activity profile will change, said Paulina Gorska, marketing manager with Jones Lang LaSalle.
In addition, the post-merger company will not only be a real estate broker as was the case with Jones Lang Wootton, Gorska said. "We're not only brokers anymore, we've become investors," she said, adding that LaSalle Partners was investing in and managing real estate prior to the merger.
Healey & Baker felt that a new logo would symbolize change at the company. "Since we are a fully merged company, we wanted to have a family look, a common look," said Martin Newman, marketing director for Healey & Baker in London.
But changing the company's name would have gone too far. "The feeling was that the brand of Healey & Baker has a certain value," Newman said. "If you change it, overnight you lose that value."
In a nod to their new partners, Healey & Baker did think of extending its name with the addition of Cushman, but eventually this was considered to be too long and cumbersome, he added.
Currently, the Japanese embassy is renting the first floor, which is 2,260 square meters, in the Atrium building.
But owning will be cheaper than renting.
"It's much cheaper in the long run," said Yoichiro Yamada, first secretary of the Japanese Embassy in Warsaw. "We will be here for 100 years perhaps."
Construction of the new embassy, located on an approximately 10,000 square meter site, started in January and completion is expected in the summer of 2000, Yamada said. However, the embassy won't leave its current home until the fall of next year. "Our contract expires in November 2000," Yamada said.
The building, which will be 6,500 square meters, will have three stories above ground and one underground, said Shigeru Nakae, head of the Polish office of Takenaka, the general contractor for the project.
The new structure will be designed as a modern office building. "It will not look like an old Japanese building," Yamada said. "It will be a practical, functional office building."
The project will cost an estimated $20 million.
The new embassy is the fourth project undertaken by Takenaka in Poland. The company also built the Japan Art Center in Krakow, buildings for Daewoo Electronics in Pruszkow and a training center for Toyota Motor Poland in Warsaw.
New Praga profile
Local landlords and property agents are hoping that the Centrum Millenium office and retail development in Warsaw's Praga district will raise the profile of the area - and property prices.
"I'm happy, I strongly believe that it will increase the prestige of Praga," said Leszek Klin, president of the supervisory board of Dom Handlowy Praga, which owns the Rainbow Center, an office and retail building in Praga.
Klin said he would welcome Centrum Millenium even though it will compete directly with his Rainbow Center.
"More buildings like this and the area's prestige is going to be higher," Klin said, adding that the part of Praga across from central Warsaw should see prices rise as a result.
Centrum Millenium, a $20 million retail and office project to be located at the corner of Targowa and Kijowska streets, is being developed by Top 2000 and is expected to be completed by the end of this year, according to Jones Lang LaSalle.
Although most Warsaw residents consider Praga to be a down-at-the-heels section of the city, the agency said the project would have a superb location and will benefit from the fact that it will be the first modern retail and office building in the area.
"The location, it cannot be better in Praga," said Magdalena Fratczak, a retail agent with Jones Lang LaSalle. Centrum Millenium will be located on busy ulica Targowa close to the Swietokrzyski bridge, which is now under construction, and to the planned Port Praski project, she added.
Like Klin, Fratczak hopes that Centrum Millenium will give Praga a boost. "Life in Praga will concentrate there, people live there after all," she said.
Fratczak said she was confident that all 7,400 square meters of retail space, housed on two floors that will include two banking outlets and a fast food restaurant, will be leased before construction ends. The six-story building will also have 7,900 square meters of office space. The asking price for both office and retail space is $25 a square meter per month.
But the Rainbow Center's Klin said Centrum Millenium would be lucky to get such rates. That building, which contains 10,000 square meters of renovated space, had to switch its focus to office area after retail letting proved disappointing.
The Rainbow Center is now offering office space at slightly below $20 per square meter and retail space a slight premium to this level, Klin said. Rainbow Center expects to be fully let this spring with an inflow of new tenants that will include daily newspaper Zycie, he added.
Different approaches
Two U.K.-based real estate agencies have taken quite different strategies toward developing their brands after mergers with U.S. partners.
Since its merger with American firm LaSalle Partners was finalized March 12, Jones Lang Wootton has undergone a name change. It is now Jones Lang LaSalle.
Healey & Baker, which merged Feb. 22 with U.S.-based Cushman & Wakefield, got to keep its name, but is now using a "new visual identity" or logo for those not familiar with brand-speak.
Jones Lang LaSalle's name change occurred because the new trans-Atlantic company's activity profile will change, said Paulina Gorska, marketing manager with Jones Lang LaSalle.
In addition, the post-merger company will not only be a real estate broker as was the case with Jones Lang Wootton, Gorska said. "We're not only brokers anymore, we've become investors," she said, adding that LaSalle Partners was investing in and managing real estate prior to the merger.
Healey & Baker felt that a new logo would symbolize change at the company. "Since we are a fully merged company, we wanted to have a family look, a common look," said Martin Newman, marketing director for Healey & Baker in London.
But changing the company's name would have gone too far. "The feeling was that the brand of Healey & Baker has a certain value," Newman said. "If you change it, overnight you lose that value."
In a nod to their new partners, Healey & Baker did think of extending its name with the addition of Cushman, but eventually this was considered to be too long and cumbersome, he added.
