Something for everyone
Agnieszka Barteczko: What is your experience in the real-estate market?
Meir Stambler: My family and I have been involved in real estate in Israel, England and the US. At the beginning of the 1990s we went into real estate in Moscow, then we were involved in Prague - in office, residential and shopping malls. At the end of the 1990s we got some facilities in Poland. We believe that everything is directed by God and nothing happens by coincidence. We started with small projects without the intention to develop something constantly or big.
What current residential projects is the company involved in?
Maripol is involved in a project of around 700 apartments in Białołęka, where we have already completed and sold over 100 apartments, as well as a project of over 600 apartments in Bemowo. We have completed and sold the Vis-a-Vis project on ul. Floriańska in Praga, and we have completed and sold the reconstruction project of Al. Szucha 3, which is a prestigious apartment building.
We are now developing a similar reconstruction project on ul. Wspólna 15. We are also planning a new project on ul. Piękna in the courtyard of "Kino Polonia" where we are going to build ca 5,000 sqm of residential space. Construction will start maybe at the end of this year or the beginning of 2007. The number of apartments is not decided yet.
You mentioned the reconstruction projects of Al. Szucha and ul. Wspólna. What are the opportunities and barriers in developing such schemes?
The opportunity is to develop a beautiful project in the heart of the city, which adds value to the culture and beauty of the city. You have a feeling of satisfaction that you are reconstructing a piece of history. The barriers are the engineering difficulties and unexpected costs of such a development. In the case of a new project you have a regular, clear and secure budget. With a reconstruction scheme it often turns out after the works have already started that you also have to build other constructions in the scheme. It is much faster and easier to build a new project from scratch.
What is the scope of Maripol's activities in Poland at the moment?
It is concentrated on the residential market, although we are about to start the construction of an office building development in the center of Wrocław, at Pl. Konstytucji, opposite the railway station. There we will do offices, and possibly also residential. The building will have 15,500 sqm of space.
Who are your customers?
We cover all the segments of the market. Białołęka is for the lower segment, Bemowo is for the middle class, Praga, ul. Floriańska is for upper-middle level (a lot of people involved in art and media bought the apartments there because they liked the very special architectural design combined with the pre-war environment of Praga). Our investments at Aleja Szucha, ul. Wspólna and ul. Piękna are for the highest segment of the market. As far as the nationality of our clients is concerned, 85 percent of them are Polish and 15 percent are foreigners, mostly from England and Ireland.
Maripol is involved in projects in Poland but also in Israel and the US. Could you compare the residential markets of these countries?
The mortgage systems in Israel and America are much better than in Poland. Recently the system has become smarter and more sophisticated in Poland, but it is still a long way from the American style. The developers' market in the US is much more sophisticated. There is also a well developed investment/rental market for apartments. The Israeli market is not as sophisticated as the one in America, but still it is more sophisticated than in Poland, although it suffers from the problems of terrorism.
We think that after the city manages to execute the Master Plan for Warsaw, then the whole development market will be healthier, more reasonable and stable.
