No slow-down for Slough
LSE- and Euronext-listed Slough Estates International (SEI) has reported on its 2006 CEE operations and revealed plans for further expansion on the Polish market.
Since entering the market at the beginning of 2006, SEI has built up its land reserves in the region to a total of 122 ha. In this period, SEI has already completed over 133,000 sqm of warehouse and light industrial projects, of which more than 70 percent was pre-leased or leased during construction.
"We are delighted, of course, to have had such a strong beginning to our activities in Central Europe and we look forward to becoming one of the leading providers of flexible business space in the Central European region," said Simon Hollins, managing director for Slough Estates Central Europe.
For 2007, SEI plans to expand in each of the existing locations with new speculative and pre-let options, in addition to launching several new schemes. In Poland, SEI is developing warehouses and industrial parks in Stryków (near Lódę) and in Pozna. The 61-ha Tulipan Park Stryków is SEI's largest project in the Central European region and consists of three buildings totaling 77,000 sqm. The 44,000 sqm pre-lease to Corning Cable Systems was one of the largest such deals in 2006.
In Pozna, a 26,000-sqm warehouse was completed in January, with 70 percent of the space pre-leased to UK manufacturer Huntleigh Healthcare. Subsequent construction works in Stryków and Pozna, totaling 60,000 sqm, are planned for 2007. SEI is also developing a 17,800 sqm office project in the Mokotów area of Warsaw called Tulipan House, scheduled for completion in early 2008. SEI provides four million sqm of business space to its over 1,700 customers (as of 2006).
