JLLS hosts 6th real estate seminar
There were three presentations at the event, all of which focused on the prospects for the real estate market in Poland after its accession to the EU.
Ben Bannatyne, the managing director of JLLS, introduced the seminar and commented on the increased confidence he believes now exists on the property market in Warsaw. He pointed to the lower vacancy rate in non-central districts of the capital as evidence of this and saw a brighter future for the empty office space in the CBD, which could well begin to welcome tenants in the not-too-distant future because there will be "no new product coming to the market in 2005."
The first presentation was given by Helmut Fischer, managing director of Bank BPH, who predicted that rents in the Polish market would continue to fall over the next 12 to 18 months but would then recover "towards average European levels." He also suggested that banks' lending parameters would become increasingly amenable to more stable markets and the strong investment climate would contribute to this trend. In his opinion, banks would have to become more active in supporting economic development by "restructuring existing corporate loans."
Next up was Paweł Dębowski, partner at the law firm CMS Cameron McKenna and head of its real estate and construction team in Warsaw. His brief was to discuss the impact of EU accession on laws affecting real estate in Poland, but his first point was that this wasn't really an issue as most of the relevant legislation had already been passed well before the country entered the union. However, he did refer to the relaxation of the laws on Polish language requirements for contractual documents, which means less of an ordeal for foreign real estate executives.
Jones Lang LaSalle's head of Capital Markets CEE, Gareth Jones, delivered the final presentation, in which he disagreed with Helmut Fischer's assessment of the prospects for rental levels in this country, which he maintains will stabilize very shortly and not fall any further. He also added that: "There is a very broad and deep investor base looking for product in CEE and only 30 to 40 deals a year to go around. The result has been a very sharp yield compression over the last 12 months. We believe that office yields cannot fall much further, as they are approaching levels similar to some Western European capitals."
Ben Bannatyne, the managing director of JLLS, introduced the seminar and commented on the increased confidence he believes now exists on the property market in Warsaw. He pointed to the lower vacancy rate in non-central districts of the capital as evidence of this and saw a brighter future for the empty office space in the CBD, which could well begin to welcome tenants in the not-too-distant future because there will be "no new product coming to the market in 2005."
The first presentation was given by Helmut Fischer, managing director of Bank BPH, who predicted that rents in the Polish market would continue to fall over the next 12 to 18 months but would then recover "towards average European levels." He also suggested that banks' lending parameters would become increasingly amenable to more stable markets and the strong investment climate would contribute to this trend. In his opinion, banks would have to become more active in supporting economic development by "restructuring existing corporate loans."
Next up was Paweł Dębowski, partner at the law firm CMS Cameron McKenna and head of its real estate and construction team in Warsaw. His brief was to discuss the impact of EU accession on laws affecting real estate in Poland, but his first point was that this wasn't really an issue as most of the relevant legislation had already been passed well before the country entered the union. However, he did refer to the relaxation of the laws on Polish language requirements for contractual documents, which means less of an ordeal for foreign real estate executives.
Jones Lang LaSalle's head of Capital Markets CEE, Gareth Jones, delivered the final presentation, in which he disagreed with Helmut Fischer's assessment of the prospects for rental levels in this country, which he maintains will stabilize very shortly and not fall any further. He also added that: "There is a very broad and deep investor base looking for product in CEE and only 30 to 40 deals a year to go around. The result has been a very sharp yield compression over the last 12 months. We believe that office yields cannot fall much further, as they are approaching levels similar to some Western European capitals."
