Warsaw's Playground
This is also Warsaw's playground, 200 kilometers north of the capital city, and it may be ideal for property investment. At least some Warsaw residents and developers think so.
Three years ago, Marek Kalinowski, a jeans retailer with two stores in Warsaw, purchased 2.5 hectares of land here. The 54-year-old entrepreneur wants to retire here after building a small home. But so far he's had no time to develop the idea, visiting his retreat only a couple of times a year to see if "the land is still there," he said.
Kalinowski got the land dirt cheap, so cheap that he can't remember how much he paid, he said. As a benchmark, land prices today run from an average $3-$4 a square meter for well-situated agricultural land and up to $15 for lake front property, according to real estate agencies. That's a steep bargain compared to secluded residential properties around Warsaw. In Konstancin, for example, the price tag runs $35-$150 a square meter and $50-$350 a square meter in pastoral Wilanow.
But property values are rising around the lake district. Since the early 1990s, prices have tripled, and more recently property values are doubling every two years, a fact not lost on short-term investors and developers. But there are risks. Values on vacation properties and weekend retreats are subject to the whims of public sentiment.
"Fashion for this property (Mazurian) has been dying down," said Janet Choynowski, managing director of Prime Property real estate agency.
The rich and famous are now looking to buy properties in Spain or France, she said. Part of the Mazury problem is the lack of quality developments, Choynowski said. Once those are in place, Mazury could return a la mode. But other problems plague the area. "It's a long and dangerous drive from Warsaw," she said.
In addition to a three-hour commute from Warsaw, the place empties out after the summer tourist season. While seclusion may attract some investors, it also attracts crime. In the off-season, which is most of the year, a big problem that property owners face is security, property watchers say.
Warsaw-based developer Inter Commerce has a solution: Build secure apartments and houses for Warsaw weekenders and regional vacationers.
"Many clients looking at our projects consider selling their properties in Mazury because they are fed up with robberies every year," said Gralyna Szarszewska, marketing director of Inter Commerce.
Inter Commerce owns 30 hectares of land in six different locations around Mikolajki, the main town in the finger lake district. The developer's properties include sites in the center of town, overlooking the boat docks, as well as out of town lakeside lots. The plan calls for small apartments, 30-40 square meters but some up to 80 square meters, in addition to single and semi-attached houses.
Inter Commerce, which plans to complete its first apartments in the summer next year, said that if the sales are successful, by 2004 it would invest up to $80 million into the project. Blueprints call for 1,700 apartments as well as leisure/recreation facilities including swimming pools, a golf course, squash and tennis courts and restaurant and bar facilities. Funds will come from the developer's own capital and payments from individual homeowners, Szarszewska said.
"The pockets of clients will determine the scale of the project," Szarszewska said. Inter Commerce decided to invest in Mazury because "it's one of the most beautiful areas in Europe, which is under-invested at the same time," she said.
The price tag for an apartment will run $1,300-$1,500 per square meter, not the high-end by Warsaw standards, but above the average price of $1,000 for a flat in Mokotow - although the overall price would likely be less because of the smaller apartment sizes.
Inter Commerce, which started as a trading company in 1987, began working as a developer in the early 1990s and boasts developing the Hit supermarket in Warsaw and other retail centers nationwide, the company said. Two years ago, Inter Commerce started buying land in the Mazury area, the company added.
If the Mazury lake project proves successful, it could spark a new boom in leisure properties, property watchers said. The finger lake district has attracted few modern developments in recent years, with investment coming traditionally from individuals building their own retreats for personal use. On the commercial side, large-scale hotel projects and former socialist-style company retreats exist as well as family-run bed and breakfasts.
While development is slow, there is growing interest by individuals and other larger-scale investors, said Henryk Szczygiel, who runs a Bialystok-based real estate agency Hema, which receives about 10% of it's revenue from Mazury sales.
"For the last three years land prices in Mazury have been growing by 50% every year," Szczygiel said. Although mostly individual clients were buying the land in Mazury for their own use a couple of years ago, larger investors are moving in. "I have a request from a bank to find a 1,000 hectare site in Mazury," said Szczygiel, who would not name the bank. "This is about investment, this gives a bigger return than any bank account," he said.
Current price tags of up to $15 a square meter for lakefront property are dramatically higher than earlier this decade when Szczygiel bought 10 hectares of land here for about zl. 2, or about $1, a square meter, he said. But that's a trend that is likely to continue as Poland moves closer to European Union (EU) membership, Szczygiel said. For example, leisure land in Germany runs as high as DM 200 (zl. 420) per square meter, he said. The German connection is important. The lake district is a favorite spot for Germans because of its Prussian ancestry dating back before World War II.
Despite potential property demand from foreigners, developer Inter Commerce is targeting its residential development to Warsaw residents, 40-60 year old, entrepreneurs and professionals, the company said.
But high-end customers aren't the only ones interested in taking stakes in Mazury property, said Szczygiel. He recently brokered a five hectare plot of remote farm land to two mining families from the Katowice area. The price of zl. 20,000 was far under the average market rate. Following closure of mines, the families decided to invest the compensation money in the Mazury district. "We also have brave people like those," Szczygiel said.
Three years ago, Marek Kalinowski, a jeans retailer with two stores in Warsaw, purchased 2.5 hectares of land here. The 54-year-old entrepreneur wants to retire here after building a small home. But so far he's had no time to develop the idea, visiting his retreat only a couple of times a year to see if "the land is still there," he said.
Kalinowski got the land dirt cheap, so cheap that he can't remember how much he paid, he said. As a benchmark, land prices today run from an average $3-$4 a square meter for well-situated agricultural land and up to $15 for lake front property, according to real estate agencies. That's a steep bargain compared to secluded residential properties around Warsaw. In Konstancin, for example, the price tag runs $35-$150 a square meter and $50-$350 a square meter in pastoral Wilanow.
But property values are rising around the lake district. Since the early 1990s, prices have tripled, and more recently property values are doubling every two years, a fact not lost on short-term investors and developers. But there are risks. Values on vacation properties and weekend retreats are subject to the whims of public sentiment.
"Fashion for this property (Mazurian) has been dying down," said Janet Choynowski, managing director of Prime Property real estate agency.
The rich and famous are now looking to buy properties in Spain or France, she said. Part of the Mazury problem is the lack of quality developments, Choynowski said. Once those are in place, Mazury could return a la mode. But other problems plague the area. "It's a long and dangerous drive from Warsaw," she said.
In addition to a three-hour commute from Warsaw, the place empties out after the summer tourist season. While seclusion may attract some investors, it also attracts crime. In the off-season, which is most of the year, a big problem that property owners face is security, property watchers say.
Warsaw-based developer Inter Commerce has a solution: Build secure apartments and houses for Warsaw weekenders and regional vacationers.
"Many clients looking at our projects consider selling their properties in Mazury because they are fed up with robberies every year," said Gralyna Szarszewska, marketing director of Inter Commerce.
Inter Commerce owns 30 hectares of land in six different locations around Mikolajki, the main town in the finger lake district. The developer's properties include sites in the center of town, overlooking the boat docks, as well as out of town lakeside lots. The plan calls for small apartments, 30-40 square meters but some up to 80 square meters, in addition to single and semi-attached houses.
Inter Commerce, which plans to complete its first apartments in the summer next year, said that if the sales are successful, by 2004 it would invest up to $80 million into the project. Blueprints call for 1,700 apartments as well as leisure/recreation facilities including swimming pools, a golf course, squash and tennis courts and restaurant and bar facilities. Funds will come from the developer's own capital and payments from individual homeowners, Szarszewska said.
"The pockets of clients will determine the scale of the project," Szarszewska said. Inter Commerce decided to invest in Mazury because "it's one of the most beautiful areas in Europe, which is under-invested at the same time," she said.
The price tag for an apartment will run $1,300-$1,500 per square meter, not the high-end by Warsaw standards, but above the average price of $1,000 for a flat in Mokotow - although the overall price would likely be less because of the smaller apartment sizes.
Inter Commerce, which started as a trading company in 1987, began working as a developer in the early 1990s and boasts developing the Hit supermarket in Warsaw and other retail centers nationwide, the company said. Two years ago, Inter Commerce started buying land in the Mazury area, the company added.
If the Mazury lake project proves successful, it could spark a new boom in leisure properties, property watchers said. The finger lake district has attracted few modern developments in recent years, with investment coming traditionally from individuals building their own retreats for personal use. On the commercial side, large-scale hotel projects and former socialist-style company retreats exist as well as family-run bed and breakfasts.
While development is slow, there is growing interest by individuals and other larger-scale investors, said Henryk Szczygiel, who runs a Bialystok-based real estate agency Hema, which receives about 10% of it's revenue from Mazury sales.
"For the last three years land prices in Mazury have been growing by 50% every year," Szczygiel said. Although mostly individual clients were buying the land in Mazury for their own use a couple of years ago, larger investors are moving in. "I have a request from a bank to find a 1,000 hectare site in Mazury," said Szczygiel, who would not name the bank. "This is about investment, this gives a bigger return than any bank account," he said.
Current price tags of up to $15 a square meter for lakefront property are dramatically higher than earlier this decade when Szczygiel bought 10 hectares of land here for about zl. 2, or about $1, a square meter, he said. But that's a trend that is likely to continue as Poland moves closer to European Union (EU) membership, Szczygiel said. For example, leisure land in Germany runs as high as DM 200 (zl. 420) per square meter, he said. The German connection is important. The lake district is a favorite spot for Germans because of its Prussian ancestry dating back before World War II.
Despite potential property demand from foreigners, developer Inter Commerce is targeting its residential development to Warsaw residents, 40-60 year old, entrepreneurs and professionals, the company said.
But high-end customers aren't the only ones interested in taking stakes in Mazury property, said Szczygiel. He recently brokered a five hectare plot of remote farm land to two mining families from the Katowice area. The price of zl. 20,000 was far under the average market rate. Following closure of mines, the families decided to invest the compensation money in the Mazury district. "We also have brave people like those," Szczygiel said.
