Only 288 more shopping days until Christmas

Stara Papiernia, a subsidiary of Poland's Wejchert Investments, plans to complete a suburban Warsaw shopping center by Nov. 20, company officials told the WBJ last week. "We want to stick to this deadline to make it for the Christmas rush," said Tadeusz Zielniewicz, president of Wejchert Investments. The 5,000-square-meter scheme will be located in a 200-year-old historical paper mill in the suburban city of Konstancin, at the junction of ulicas Wojska Polskiego and Warszawska. The investor bought the center, also called Stara Papiernia, in October 2000 for an undisclosed price. Warbud, a general contractor for the project, signed two contracts - the first in 2001 and the second in February 2002 - with Stara Papiernia developers for e4.5 million ($3.9 million) to complete demolition, modernization, refurbishment and construction work by October 2002. "You have to add the price of land and design costs, but I can't reveal the total sum," Zielniewicz said. "It's confidential." According to a source connected with the project, the investment should exceed $6 million. Stara Papiernia is in the second stage of construction. In the completed first phase, the investor pulled down structures that could not be salvaged following a 1984 fire. "We have all the permits from the monument conservator and no protests or claims," Zielniewicz said.

The second stage encompasses modernization and refurbishment of the remaining structures. In the final steps, the investor will include steel and glass elements. "(Historical elements) will be visible in the project - the past, the present within the past and the future," Zielniewicz said. Developers are targeting the suburb's well-off residents. "We focus on middle- and upper-class Konstancin residents as well as people visiting Konstancin's health resorts," Zielniewicz said. Stara Papiernia hired Anglo-American Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) property consultants to market the project. Tatiana Siemieniuk, associate director of JLL, said the project is unique because historical buildings will be incorporated in the whole concept. "The idea is to combine recreation, cultural and retail functions in a historical place," she said. "It will have a special atmosphere, different from a hypermarket or a regular shopping mall."

Several tenants are already interested in renting space in the scheme. "We are in advanced negotiations with the Netherlands' Hypernova (delicatessen), Gymnasion fitness club and coffee chain operator Stoney Point Java," Siemieniuk said. The retail concept also foresees an exclusive spa, gardening and home improvement stores, a multi-brand sporting goods outlet as well as boutiques and restaurants. There will also be an exhibition of paper manufacturing machines. Retailers will pay from $20-$40 per square meter a month. There will be around 40 retail and service outlets ranging in size from 30 square meters to 300 square meters. According to Grzegorz Pźkalski, leasing and marketing manager of France' retail developer Cefic Polska, it is a good project for the area. "Its location is excellent and size suitable for Konstancin inhabitants," he said. "A simple hypermarket or a large shopping mall wouldn't make it there." Wejchert Investments is owned by Jan Wejchert, a media tycoon who runs the ITI Group. The firm previously refurbished Warsaw's Sobański Palace on Aleje Ujazdowskie, which is now owned by Wejchert.

DB Real Estate bands together Deutsche Bank announced late last month that it combined all of its real estate investment management groups into Deutsche Bank Real Estate (DB Real Estate). Deutsche Asset Management (Australia), Deutsche Grundbesitz (Germany), Deutsche Bank Real Estate Private Equity Group (U.K.), Deutsche Bank Property Asset Management (U.K.), Deutsche Bank Realty Mezzanine Investment Funds (U.S.A.) and Deutsche Bank Fondimmobiliari SGR (Italy) will be rolled into DB Real Estate. The firm has $21 billion in assets under management, making it the second-largest global investment adviser. "The formation of DB Real Estate is a clear example of 'the whole being greater than the sum in parts,' " said Richard Gunthel, managing director and global head of DB Real Estate. "Our objective is to enhance the value inherent in each franchise by generating maximum cross-border access to capital, deal flow and investment expertise." One of the merged funds, Deutsche Grundbesitz, purchased three office buildings in Warsaw in the Kopernik office complex last year for an undisclosed price.

In brief: " Polskie Książki Telefoniczne (PTK) leased the 2,850-square-meter Wenecja office building on aleja Solidarności in Warsaw. PTK is owned by two telecom and publishing companies - U.S.-based Verizon Communications and Norway's Findexa. " Kielce-based Echo Investment started development of Qubus hotel in the Silesian city of Gliwice earlier this month. The three-star on ulica Dworcowa will have 103 rooms and parking for 41 cars. Completion is scheduled for January-February 2003.