Spanish invasion
Central Europe Meeting Point, an international real-estate symposium and exhibition, attracted more than 100 Spanish building companies and developers to Poland last week. This is the first time the event has been held in a non-Spanish speaking country.
"So many Spanish companies had never before crossed our borders for an international real-estate meeting," says Enrique Lacalle, chairman of the organizing committee for Central Europe Meeting Point. "[Spanish investors] are now finding out about Poland. They have the knowledge, they have the financial resources and the will to be here," adds Josep M. Pons, managing director of Central Europe Meeting Point.
Domestic gloom
On their domestic market, Spanish companies have enjoyed strong growth thanks in large part to a favorable real-estate cycle. In the last few years the Spanish market observed an increase of around 600,000 new apartments per annum. Now, with more difficult market conditions on the horizon, Spanish developers are looking for new solutions. In order to insulate themselves against the perceived downturn and maintain their growth, Spanish companies have gone international in the hunt for property profits. Central Europe and Poland, in particular, are proving very attractive for Spanish tastes.
Poland is the largest country in the CEE region with a large real-estate market, but Spaniards still remember how prices grew after Spain joined the EU and developers are certain the situation will be replicated in Central Europe. "Poland and generally Eastern Europe is the place where most real-estate activities will be carried out throughout the next years. In Western Europe such enterprises will also take place, but there will be far more. Thanks to accession to the EU, the countries will get European funds, which will foster infrastructure and industry and consequently real estate: office, industrial parks, hotels, retail and residential. However, yields and capitalization rates in Poland are still higher than in any other part of Europe," says Pons.
Wide support
Maria Antonia Trujillo, the Minister for Housing in the Spanish Government, estimates that so far Spanish companies have invested some EUR 600 million (zł.2.3 billion) in Poland, which is the highest figure in the CEE region. The largest Spanish companies on the Polish market are Ferrovial, Acciona (formerly Mostostal Warszawa) with Acciona Nieruchomości (formerly Mostostal Invest), which belongs to Acciona Inmobiliaria, as well as a company established by Prokom Investments and Fadesa Inmobiliaria.
Millions to come
Although it is difficult to make an exact calculation, the organizers claim that the estimated turnover of real-estate deals carried out during Central Europe Meeting Point 2006 could exceed E300 million (zł.1.2 billion). Spanish investors are mainly interested in the residential market, with some looking to develop hotels and a few others focusing on industrial developments.
The Spanish companies already present on the Polish market emphasize the low number of prospective plots, mainly because very few cities have spatial development plans. Michał Borowski, the chief architect at Warsaw City Hall, says that the development plan of Warsaw, a document presenting the opportunities for the future development of the city will soon be disclosed.
According to Pons, the plan along with an improvement of the quality of management within the public sphere and the simplification of the legal and administrative procedures, should keep Spanish investors and developers here for many years to come.
