Race is on to build malls in Warsaw
Two developers Cefic and the Central European Property Fund (CERPF) are both gearing up to build giant, competing shopping malls in Warsaw, the companies announced last week.
"Yes, it's our competition, especially in the short term," said Grzegorz Pekalski, leasing manager with the French-based Cefic. Cefic is planning to build a $100 million mall called Arkadia, which will be located between Rondo Babka and the Dworzec Gdanski railway station in the northern part of Warsaw's Srodmiescie district. At 110,000 square meters of net retail space, Arkadia would become the country's biggest shopping mall, topping the 49,000 square-meter Galeria Mokotow, which opened in September.
CERPF's project, a $100 million, 72,000-square-meter mall called Wola Park, will be located on ulica Gorczewska, just five kilometers from Cefic's mall. CERPF is jointly owned by the Lehman Brothers bank, French construction firm Bouygues, and Jones Lang LaSalle, a consulting firm.
Wola Park will not be able to compete with Arkadia in terms of size. But with a projected completion date of mid-2002 it could open more than a year earlier than Arkadia, gaining a head start on building its customer base, according to a CERPF press release.
Cefic, which is hoping to receive a construction permit by the end of this year, plans to break ground on its project in March and finish the mall by the end of 2003.
But Pekalski said that while Wola Park would likely win the race to be first, Arkadia would be more successful in the long term. "Being first is more important for Wola Park," Pekalski said. "We believe our shopping mall will be much better."
He added that Arkadia's closer location to downtown would give it another advantage.
CERPF's press release also claims its mall is ideally situated; Wola Park will stand in the western residential district of Wola. According to the release, the mall will have a catchment area of 300,000 customers living within a 10-minute drive, and access to the shopping mall will be improved as the city plans to upgrade the two-lane ulica Gorczewska into a four-lane road.
Both shopping malls will be anchored by French hypermarkets. Arkadia will have a 15,000 square-meter Carrefour hypermarket, while Wola Park will have the two-floor, 30,000 square-meter Auchan.
In addition, both malls will have a mass of entertainment options. Wola Park's plans include a 12-screen cinema and a bowling club, according to CERPF's press release.
Arkadia signed a letter of intent with Ster Century, a South African cinema developer, Pekalski said, but didn't rule out cooperation with another cinema operator.
Wola Park and Arkadia will likely compete fiercely to nab clients, but property sources said Warsaw still lacks retail space and both projects are likely to be successful. "I believe in both of them," said Pierre Couderq, partner with Couderq & Partners.
JLL to rotate managers
Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), the U.S.-U.K. real estate consulting firm, is planning to rotate its top Central European managers at the beginning of next year, the agency said earlier this month.
The changes affect Peter Chatfield, director of the office agency at JLL's Warsaw office, who will become the director of the company's office in Budapest, said John Fekete, outgoing head of the company's Hungarian unit. In turn, Fekete will move to Berlin, where he will supervise the company's Central European tenant representation business.
Chatfield, 38, who has been working for JLL in Warsaw since 1996, will be replaced by Hein van der Ploeg, currently manager of JLL's Prague office, Fekete said. Chatfield was unavailable for comment at press time.
Fekete, 32, who is already in charge of tenant representation for the region, has also headed JLL's Budapest office since 1998. "I have two jobs, and I'm giving one back one is enough," he said.
In Poland, Fekete will work with Paul Blackman, who will continue to be based in Warsaw.
In brief:
Hewitt Associates, a human resources company, is planning to move next month to its new 275 square-meter office space on the third floor of the Wspolna building in central Warsaw, said Mahler Project International, the building's developer.
The Hewitt deal lowered available office space in the building to 2,500 square meters or about 35% of total office space there, said Andrzej Mikolajczyk, marketing manager with Mahler. Asking rents in the building are $28-$30 per square meter depending on size.
ABC Data, a distributor of computer hardware and software, signed a contract to lease 1,800 square meters of office and 4,120 square meters of warehousing space in the zeran Distribution Center warehousing project in northeast Warsaw, said Jones Lang LaSalle, the agency representing landlord Apollo Rida in the deal. ABC Data, a subsidiary of the German Actebis firm, will move to its new premises in December.
The hardware and software distributor will become the second high-tech tenant in zeran, which has total warehousing space of 50,000 square meters. Polska Telefonia Cyfrowa, the mobile phone operator, earlier leased 10,000 square meters in the project, which also houses Electrolux, a Swedish home-appliance producer.
Gorenje Polska, a Slovenian home-appliance company, leased 3,500 square meters of warehousing space in the Millennium Logistic Park in Pruszkow, 18 kilometers west of Warsaw, said Healey & Baker, the warehouse center's joint leasing agent. Gorenje signed a four-year lease with Bel Properties, the owner of the 35,000 square-meter warehousing project, Healey & Baker said.
