WFC goes stateside

Pramerica, acting on behalf of investors in its central European strategy, is the European real-estate investment management and advisory business of US firm Prudential Financial.

The seller was a joint venture consisting of Chicago-based Golub & Company, an international real-estate investment and development company; A. Epstein and Sons International, an architectural and engineering firm; Maciej Raczkiewicz, a principal and former head of AESI's Polish operations; Northwestern Mutual Life; and Heitman International, as an advisor to two major US pension funds.

Gareth Jones, Tomasz Trzoslo and Tomasz Puch in the Warsaw office of Jones Lang LaSalle advised and represented the seller in the transaction.

The WFC was completed in 1998. The 34-storey edifice was designed by a variety of offices including Kohn Pedersen & Fox, AESI and Biuro Projektów Architektury J & J of Warsaw. It has about 70,000 sqm of office space and is located directly next to the Hotel Intercontinental and across from the Palace of Culture and Science. Among the major tenants of the WFC are the World Bank, the European Commission, General Electric, and the law firm Cameron McKenna.

"With the Warsaw Financial Center we did not only purchase a landmark of the Polish economy but a lucrative investment with interesting long-term prospects," said Georg von Hammerstein, director of acquisitions for Pramerica's European operations.

The operative management is coordinated by CA Immo AG. Golub & Company affiliate GE Capital Golub will continue to serve as the building's leasing agent.