Suburban office parks to undercut downtown
The current leader in terms of expected delivery date is Ochota, whose first phase is to be ready for occupancy in January 1996.
The project is located on Al. Jerozolimskie, just past the Warszawa Zachodnia train station. It is being developed by the German company Mahler Project International and is marketed by Healey & Baker.
The office park, to be completed in stages, will comprise three buildings of approximately 12,000 square meters each. Richard Peterson, partner at Healey & Baker, estimated the total project cost at $40 million.
The first building is 100% equity funded by Mahler. Once the first building is completed and leased, Mahler will begin looking for financing of the future phases. Peterson said this will most likely be from German banks.
The ground floors of the three buildings have been designated for retail, exhibition, and conference facilities. Peterson said they aren't looking for small retailers, but rather companies who would like to display larger products like construction equipment.
A large chunk of the first phase is currently under offer to an international computer company which is negotiating for one side of the building. This would give them a separate entrance for their operations plus the penthouse located above the office space.
Peterson said that although the first building will be available for lease only, they have considered selling space in the subsequent phases.
Although the project has not been marketed much to the public, Peterson said that it should have a significant impact on the Warsaw office market.
"The most important thing is that this project will establish a suburban office market which has never existed before," Peterson said. "The Warsaw office market is so scattered out. There is no central business district."
One factor which could make the project financially attractive to tenants is the rents, some of the lowest in Warsaw for new-builds. "This will establish the benchmark for rentals around $22-25 per square meter," Peterson said.
According to the basic lease terms, service charges will come to approximately $4-$5 per square meter per month. Peterson said that the low rents will make the project accessible for Polish companies which previously had not been considered as potential tenants for modern office space because of the high costs which they were unable or unwilling to pay.
The other business park currently in the pipeline is Wisniowy, which is being developed by Chelverton and marketed by Henry Butcher.
The project was originally proposed by Trust Inwestycja, which brought in Chelverton to help secure financing. Chelverton, which had some questions about the design aspects of the plan, took the project over from Trust Inwestycja by signing a new contract with the landowner.
With design plans reworked, Chelverton has now obtained planning permission and is expecting to begin construction in late spring or early summer. The first space should be ready in the summer of 1996.
The project comprises 17,500 square meters of space in four buildings and will be located on ul. Zwirki i Wigury, the main road from Okecie airport to the city center.
Jas Lozinski of Henry Butcher said that their project, although slightly more expensive than Ochota, will prove more successful in the long run because of its high quality. "Our building will be better than what you could get in the city center in terms of efficiency."
Lozinski explained that the project's location near the airport will make it more attractive to tenants. "If you're a business executive you could fly into the airport and be in the office in minutes. That's the beauty of it."
Rents at Wisniowy have been set at $35 per square meter with no add-ons. Lozinski said that the lower rents at Ochota reflect the lack of quality of the project, and that in the long-run companies would end up paying almost the same at both buildings.
Although Ochota is closer to being completed, Lozinski said that they are certain they will be able to offer a better product. "Ochota is not really a business park. It's a hybrid of all sorts of things, whereas ours is a campus style business park that you would expect to find around an airport."
Lozinski says that interest in the building is high, with two of the four buildings currently under offer. Typical tenants will probably be light industrial-based companies, like computer and electronic companies.
Interest in this type of space seems to be high. Even projects not specifically designed for office space, like the Warsaw Distribution Center, have had several inquiries from tenants looking for cheaper office space outside the city center. Peterson says that there are probably two dozen or so companies with space requirements of over 1,000 square meters.
What isn't known is how these projects will fare in the future, and whether or not the business park concept will be successful in the long-run.
The success of the concept has traditionally been driven by the inner-city congestion, the ability to offer better telecommunication facilities and a car-borne workforce.
For the time being, these things shouldn't affect leasing as the shortage of office space has made many tenants desperate for whatever they can find at the lowest cost possible.
The project is located on Al. Jerozolimskie, just past the Warszawa Zachodnia train station. It is being developed by the German company Mahler Project International and is marketed by Healey & Baker.
The office park, to be completed in stages, will comprise three buildings of approximately 12,000 square meters each. Richard Peterson, partner at Healey & Baker, estimated the total project cost at $40 million.
The first building is 100% equity funded by Mahler. Once the first building is completed and leased, Mahler will begin looking for financing of the future phases. Peterson said this will most likely be from German banks.
The ground floors of the three buildings have been designated for retail, exhibition, and conference facilities. Peterson said they aren't looking for small retailers, but rather companies who would like to display larger products like construction equipment.
A large chunk of the first phase is currently under offer to an international computer company which is negotiating for one side of the building. This would give them a separate entrance for their operations plus the penthouse located above the office space.
Peterson said that although the first building will be available for lease only, they have considered selling space in the subsequent phases.
Although the project has not been marketed much to the public, Peterson said that it should have a significant impact on the Warsaw office market.
"The most important thing is that this project will establish a suburban office market which has never existed before," Peterson said. "The Warsaw office market is so scattered out. There is no central business district."
One factor which could make the project financially attractive to tenants is the rents, some of the lowest in Warsaw for new-builds. "This will establish the benchmark for rentals around $22-25 per square meter," Peterson said.
According to the basic lease terms, service charges will come to approximately $4-$5 per square meter per month. Peterson said that the low rents will make the project accessible for Polish companies which previously had not been considered as potential tenants for modern office space because of the high costs which they were unable or unwilling to pay.
The other business park currently in the pipeline is Wisniowy, which is being developed by Chelverton and marketed by Henry Butcher.
The project was originally proposed by Trust Inwestycja, which brought in Chelverton to help secure financing. Chelverton, which had some questions about the design aspects of the plan, took the project over from Trust Inwestycja by signing a new contract with the landowner.
With design plans reworked, Chelverton has now obtained planning permission and is expecting to begin construction in late spring or early summer. The first space should be ready in the summer of 1996.
The project comprises 17,500 square meters of space in four buildings and will be located on ul. Zwirki i Wigury, the main road from Okecie airport to the city center.
Jas Lozinski of Henry Butcher said that their project, although slightly more expensive than Ochota, will prove more successful in the long run because of its high quality. "Our building will be better than what you could get in the city center in terms of efficiency."
Lozinski explained that the project's location near the airport will make it more attractive to tenants. "If you're a business executive you could fly into the airport and be in the office in minutes. That's the beauty of it."
Rents at Wisniowy have been set at $35 per square meter with no add-ons. Lozinski said that the lower rents at Ochota reflect the lack of quality of the project, and that in the long-run companies would end up paying almost the same at both buildings.
Although Ochota is closer to being completed, Lozinski said that they are certain they will be able to offer a better product. "Ochota is not really a business park. It's a hybrid of all sorts of things, whereas ours is a campus style business park that you would expect to find around an airport."
Lozinski says that interest in the building is high, with two of the four buildings currently under offer. Typical tenants will probably be light industrial-based companies, like computer and electronic companies.
Interest in this type of space seems to be high. Even projects not specifically designed for office space, like the Warsaw Distribution Center, have had several inquiries from tenants looking for cheaper office space outside the city center. Peterson says that there are probably two dozen or so companies with space requirements of over 1,000 square meters.
What isn't known is how these projects will fare in the future, and whether or not the business park concept will be successful in the long-run.
The success of the concept has traditionally been driven by the inner-city congestion, the ability to offer better telecommunication facilities and a car-borne workforce.
For the time being, these things shouldn't affect leasing as the shortage of office space has made many tenants desperate for whatever they can find at the lowest cost possible.
