New executives at Wisniowy; German investor goes to Poznan
David Goodrich, who until now managed Lend Lease's operation here, left the Polish unit earlier this month to return to the land down under and be with his wife for the birth of their child. Fifty percent partners in the firm, Lend Lease and Chelverton, have invested $50 million in the project to date.
Goodrich, who was seen as the key person pushing Wisniowy's development, will be replaced by three executives from Chelverton Properties. One of these is Chris Vaughan, who will split his time between the U.K. and Poland but will remain here full time for the first few months.
To expand its business, Chelverton also brought in executive Peter Long and hired Krzysztof Jacunski, a Polish-Canadian architect who joined the firm in September. "His role will be to expand business beyond Wisniowy," Vaughan said.
Vaughan said that, despite management changes, Chelverton and Land Lease will continue their joint investment in Wisniowy.
Goodrich, who spoke to the WBJ before his departure, said he planned to come back to Poland early next year. While he may be returning to the country, Goodrich does not intend to come back to the same venture. He said he would instead join another undisclosed, international real-estate developer that does not yet have a presence in Poland.
But Goodrich's return does not seem to be definite. Vaughan, who was contacted after Goodrich's departure, said that Goodrich was likely to stay in his home country. "I understand that he is taking a job offer in Australia," he said.
Leaving Warsaw's arms
The recent start of construction on a $38 million office building in Poznan by the Von der Heyden Group will be followed by at least one more investment by the German investor outside the capital.
The company is also acquiring land in Krakow, said Sven von der Heyden, an owner of the Von der Heyden Group.
But the company plans to focus on three cities only: Warsaw, Krakow and Poznan. "My company structure won't allow us to invest in too many cities," he said. "We are a small, aggressive and efficient team."
Earlier this month, the Von der Heyden Group held a groundbreaking ceremony at the 22,000-square-meter Poznanskie Centrum Finansowe building in central Poznan. The building, developed by a joint venture between the city of Poznan, which contributed the land, and Von der Heyden, owner of the majority stake, will have 14,000 square meters of office space, 4,000 square meters of retail space and 4,000 square meters of underground parking.
Poznan-based architect Stanislaw Sipinski designed the building while another Poznan-based company, Probuild, will manage the construction of the 14-story structure.
The building is scheduled to be completed in 2000 and will be the first class-A modern building in Poznan, von der Heyden said. The lack of class-A space makes the Von der Heyden Group confident the project will succeed.
"I find Poznan very attractive," von der Heyden said.
Poznanskie Centrum Finansowe will be the first Polish investment by von der Heyden outside of Warsaw. To date the investor has sunk nearly $100 million into developing two office buildings in Warsaw, on ulicas Nowogrodzka 68 and Skorupki 6. In Warsaw von der Heyden plans to invest another $100 million to develop office, hotel and retail complex space in the city's center. The details of the project will be announced later this year, he said.
Going south
The groundbreaking this week of the $80 million Focus Filtrowa office building on ulica Filtrowa is expected to draw more developers south of the city's center, to the area around the Politechnika metro station.
The building will be developed by Centrum Budownictwa Filtrowa, a joint venture between construction company Mostostal Export and Instytut Techniki Budowlanej, a state-owned agency that certifies materials used in the construction industry.
The building will have rentable office space of 32,900 square meters and total space, including a three-floor garage, of 60,000 square meters, said Thorsten Brudigam, president of Teamworx, real estate developer and consultant advising on the development of Focus Filtrowa.
Focus Filtrowa will be the first office-building development in the area south of the city center between Politechnika Warszawska University and the Central Statistical Office (GUS). But Teamworx believes that Focus Filtrowa will attract more office building projects there. "This is a ... very ideal business place," Brudigam said. "It's a developing business area."
He said the location, on the edge of the city center, enables residents of suburbs such as Ursynow, Wilanow and Konstancin to reach the building without having to push through the center's traffic.
The building is designed exclusively for office tenants, with a large conference room on the second floor. The entire complex has little room for retail outlets. "This is not a shopping place," Brudigam said.
Teamworx and Healey & Baker will act as agents for the building.
Geant opens 4th store
French supermarket chain Geant next month will open a hypermarket in Gdansk, its fourth in the country, as part of its expansion plan in Poland.
The Gdansk hypermarket will cover more than 12,000 square meters, which is about average for Geant, said Lidia Deja, Geant's spokeswoman. The hypermarket will be part of a large commercial center that will house 70 other stores.
Geant so far has invested $109 million to build three hypermarkets in Poland, including two in Warsaw and one in Krakow. The chain had sales here of zl. 416 million ($118 million) last year.
The investment plan for next year calls for construction of six more hypermarkets at a total cost of $270 million, Deja said. Eventually Geant plans to have 25-30 hypermarkets in Poland by the end of 2003, she said.
Goodrich, who was seen as the key person pushing Wisniowy's development, will be replaced by three executives from Chelverton Properties. One of these is Chris Vaughan, who will split his time between the U.K. and Poland but will remain here full time for the first few months.
To expand its business, Chelverton also brought in executive Peter Long and hired Krzysztof Jacunski, a Polish-Canadian architect who joined the firm in September. "His role will be to expand business beyond Wisniowy," Vaughan said.
Vaughan said that, despite management changes, Chelverton and Land Lease will continue their joint investment in Wisniowy.
Goodrich, who spoke to the WBJ before his departure, said he planned to come back to Poland early next year. While he may be returning to the country, Goodrich does not intend to come back to the same venture. He said he would instead join another undisclosed, international real-estate developer that does not yet have a presence in Poland.
But Goodrich's return does not seem to be definite. Vaughan, who was contacted after Goodrich's departure, said that Goodrich was likely to stay in his home country. "I understand that he is taking a job offer in Australia," he said.
Leaving Warsaw's arms
The recent start of construction on a $38 million office building in Poznan by the Von der Heyden Group will be followed by at least one more investment by the German investor outside the capital.
The company is also acquiring land in Krakow, said Sven von der Heyden, an owner of the Von der Heyden Group.
But the company plans to focus on three cities only: Warsaw, Krakow and Poznan. "My company structure won't allow us to invest in too many cities," he said. "We are a small, aggressive and efficient team."
Earlier this month, the Von der Heyden Group held a groundbreaking ceremony at the 22,000-square-meter Poznanskie Centrum Finansowe building in central Poznan. The building, developed by a joint venture between the city of Poznan, which contributed the land, and Von der Heyden, owner of the majority stake, will have 14,000 square meters of office space, 4,000 square meters of retail space and 4,000 square meters of underground parking.
Poznan-based architect Stanislaw Sipinski designed the building while another Poznan-based company, Probuild, will manage the construction of the 14-story structure.
The building is scheduled to be completed in 2000 and will be the first class-A modern building in Poznan, von der Heyden said. The lack of class-A space makes the Von der Heyden Group confident the project will succeed.
"I find Poznan very attractive," von der Heyden said.
Poznanskie Centrum Finansowe will be the first Polish investment by von der Heyden outside of Warsaw. To date the investor has sunk nearly $100 million into developing two office buildings in Warsaw, on ulicas Nowogrodzka 68 and Skorupki 6. In Warsaw von der Heyden plans to invest another $100 million to develop office, hotel and retail complex space in the city's center. The details of the project will be announced later this year, he said.
Going south
The groundbreaking this week of the $80 million Focus Filtrowa office building on ulica Filtrowa is expected to draw more developers south of the city's center, to the area around the Politechnika metro station.
The building will be developed by Centrum Budownictwa Filtrowa, a joint venture between construction company Mostostal Export and Instytut Techniki Budowlanej, a state-owned agency that certifies materials used in the construction industry.
The building will have rentable office space of 32,900 square meters and total space, including a three-floor garage, of 60,000 square meters, said Thorsten Brudigam, president of Teamworx, real estate developer and consultant advising on the development of Focus Filtrowa.
Focus Filtrowa will be the first office-building development in the area south of the city center between Politechnika Warszawska University and the Central Statistical Office (GUS). But Teamworx believes that Focus Filtrowa will attract more office building projects there. "This is a ... very ideal business place," Brudigam said. "It's a developing business area."
He said the location, on the edge of the city center, enables residents of suburbs such as Ursynow, Wilanow and Konstancin to reach the building without having to push through the center's traffic.
The building is designed exclusively for office tenants, with a large conference room on the second floor. The entire complex has little room for retail outlets. "This is not a shopping place," Brudigam said.
Teamworx and Healey & Baker will act as agents for the building.
Geant opens 4th store
French supermarket chain Geant next month will open a hypermarket in Gdansk, its fourth in the country, as part of its expansion plan in Poland.
The Gdansk hypermarket will cover more than 12,000 square meters, which is about average for Geant, said Lidia Deja, Geant's spokeswoman. The hypermarket will be part of a large commercial center that will house 70 other stores.
Geant so far has invested $109 million to build three hypermarkets in Poland, including two in Warsaw and one in Krakow. The chain had sales here of zl. 416 million ($118 million) last year.
The investment plan for next year calls for construction of six more hypermarkets at a total cost of $270 million, Deja said. Eventually Geant plans to have 25-30 hypermarkets in Poland by the end of 2003, she said.
