Real estate agencies starting to develop outside interests
International real estate agencies Knight Frank Nieruchomosci and Jones Lang LaSalle announced plans in June to expand their Polish presence by delving into new areas of business, representatives of the companies said last week.
The U.K.-based Knight Frank, which so far has been active in commercial properties, is preparing to set up a residential agency in the fall, said Magdalena Szymanska, marketing manager with the company. The agency will be headed by Magdalena Zakrzewska, an agent with the firm.
If Knight Frank opens a residential agency it will be the first large international agency to start up in that sector. Other international agencies, including Jones Lang LaSalle, DTZ, Healey & Baker, still don't have a residential market presence.
Canada-based Colliers International has a residential arm, but it acquired it through the purchase of Mansion & House, a local agency specializing in residential properties. Knight Frank said it planned to set up a greenfield residential agency and hire new agents.
It also hopes to focus on assisting developers of apartments and houses on the primary market, the firm said.
Meanwhile, Jones Lang LaSalle is putting together a Central European property management team that would oversee shopping centers, the company said.
The team, which is headed by Prague-based manager Geoff Murgatroyd, is hoping to benefit from the growing number of shopping center developments in the region, the company said.
The Anglo-American Jones Lang LaSalle, which manages more than 100 shopping center facilities throughout Europe, so far has just two Central European clients in the Czech Republic. These are owned by the Netherlands-based Ahold company, said Ian Elliott, the firm's retail director for Central Europe.
However, Jones Lang LaSalle has plans to manage a number of shopping centers currently under development in Central Europe, Elliott said.
In Poland, the company is eyeing property management of at least three shopping centers, Elliott said. But he wouldn't divulge which ones.
Syrena to redo Nowa Praga hotel
Hotele Warszawskie Syrena, owned by Austria-based Bau Holding, plans to wrap up its office-building makeover of the Nowa Praga Hotel later this year, the project's general contractor said.
The hotel, located on ulica Brechta in the residential area of Praga Polnoc east of the Wisla river, was closed last year for redevelopment. Work is now slated for completion by the end of October, said Krzysztof Gasiewicz, the construction site manager with Ilbau, the general contractor and subsidiary of Bau Holding.
The former two-star, 133-room Nowa Praga Hotel is being transformed into a 6,000 square-meter office building, Gasiewicz said.
The hotel was one of six owned by Syrena, which was sold to Bau Holding in 1997. The firm's other hotels include Saski, Warszawa, Polonia, Metropol and MDM.
The Nowa Praga Hotel is the first to be renovated. The company also closed the Saski Hotel, located on plac Bankowy in central Warsaw for apparent renovations. No official at Syrena was available to comment on the company's plans for Saski.
Europol Gaz builds new office
in residential Bielany
Europol Gaz, the Polish company building the local section of the Yamal natural gas pipeline running from Russia to Western Europe, in June started construction of a company office building in the northern district of Bielany, an offical with the firm said.
The building, which is planned for completion in 2002, will be located at the intersection of ulica Literacka and the Armii Krajowej highway.
Gmina Bielany, a largely residential community, is an unusual location for office buildings, which are more commonly situated in central and southern Warsaw.
Europol Gaz said it decided to develop the building in Bielany because it managed to find a "very nice location" there, said Danuta Tarkowska, the director of external relations with the company.
In addition, Europol Gaz was attracted to Bielany because local gmina authorities were cooperative, Tarkowska said. The company bought a 19,000 square-meter site from the gmina to construct the building two years ago.
The development was warmly greeted by gmina authorities. "It's very good," said Janusz Marciniak, promotions officer with the gmina. Bielany is a mostly residential community and is therefore trying to attract more commercial developments, he said.
The Europol Gaz building in Bielany will contain six floors and 35,000 square meters. Two floors will be reserved for retail operations, including restaurants open to public, the company said.
Europol Gaz is currently renting office space in a building on Aleja Stanow Zjednoczonych in the Praga Poludnie district. Tarkowska wouldn't reveal the size of the company's space there, saying only that it was "terribly tight." Europol Gaz decided to develop its own building due to "economic reasons," Tarkowska said. "Renting is very expensive."
Europol Gaz, which has about 200 employees, is owned by the Polish Oil and Gas Co. (PGNiG) and Russia's Gazprom, each of which has a 48% stake in the firm. The Gas Trading Co. owns the remaining 4% stake in the firm. The company has already invested more than $1 billion in developing the Polish section of the Yamal pipeline, which is to be used to export Russian gas to Central and Western Europe.
In brief:
EC Harris, the U.K.-based project management company and construction consulting firm, said it hired Peter Maitland to develop its facility management business in Poland and other Central European countries. "Warsaw has seen a boom in commercial property development in the last two to three years," according to a company statement. "Yet the professional use of facility management techniques are still largely untapped." Maitland has four years' experience in facility management business in Poland. Before joining EC Harris he worked for Pioneer Real Estate and AIG/Lincoln. In related news, EC Harris opened regional offices in Wroclaw, the company said.
