Wholesale innovation
As competition grows ever more fierce within city boundaries, so developers and retailers are looking for new ways of drawing customers away from the cluttered market that Warsaw, at least, is fast becoming.
Just under two years ago, the Spanish developer Neinver opened its 15,000-square meter 'Factory' outlet center in Ursus, just outside the capital. This offers branded products, mainly clothing items, at 30 percent discounts, and gives manufacturers the opportunity to offload their end-of-line stock.
Another current phenomenon in this country is the retail park. Usually spearheaded by a household goods store, such as IKEA, this concept entails a group of sizeable units in close proximity, linked by walkways. The total space they occupy usually comes to around 100,000 square meters.
These concepts are, however, commonplace in the rest of Europe: there are already around a hundred factory outlets across the continent and the number of retail parks is well in advance of that.
'Wholesale centers,' though, are much thinner on the ground and are used only in Hungary and Italy at present. There will, nevertheless, be one on Polish soil come the end of this year.
"Our tenants are producers, wholesalers and importers of clothes, shoes and accessories, and after these AGD equipment and toys," says Zdzisław Derlicki, general director of Euro Power Centrum, developer of the Wholesale Center Maximus. "Their clients will be retailers and European merchants and not the everyday customer."
Located in Nadarzyn near the Warsaw-Katowice road, some 19 kilometers from the capital, the project will initially consist of four halls totaling 92,000 square meters, though the ultimate aim is for this to expand to seven halls of a similar size. After this, there are plans to develop residential, office, industrial and service schemes on the 111-hectare plot. That, to say the least, is not unambitious, and begs the question: who is behind it all?
The straight answer is that it is yet another Turkish investment, and it would be fair to say that these haven't always enjoyed a favorable press in Poland. Infamous examples of such projects include the Reform Plaza office building and the Reform Center retail center, which were developed and designed by the Reform Company Ltd and Mr Vahap Toy. Unloved by many in Warsaw when delivered to the market, these schemes have since re-invented themselves under new ownership as Millenium Plaza and Blue City, respectively. Mr Toy, however, went on to head a proposed $6 billion investment in the small eastern town of Biała Podlaska which would consist of, among other amenities, an international airport, formula 1 racetrack and a replica of the Eiffel Tower. Described by President Kwaśniewski as no less than a "phantasmagoria," the scheme was a victim of its own overblown ambition.
Other Turkish developments in Warsaw have included Eurocentrum on Aleje Jerozolimskie, only a stone's throw away from Millenium Plaza. Planned as a five-building roadside complex to consist of four office developments and a hotel, this has enjoyed a more positive response from local architects, for instance, and has signed significant deals with its tenants. To date, however, only one building of the five, 'Alpha,' has been completed.
There is some reason to believe that Maximus Wholesale Center will not share the notoriety endured by the Reform Company Ltd and Vahap Toy, however. For one, it has attracted a list of illustrious names to its cause, including some who have been centrally involved in the rejuvenated Reform Center, that is Blue City. One such is the architectural firm APA Wojciechowski, and another is leasing agent DTZ, whose Renata Kusznierska is openly enthusiastic about the scheme.
"Retail is developing in various ways in Poland," she says, "and this project represents something new and untypical. It's an unexplored niche in this country and we like to keep an open mind and rise to new challenges."
The investors themselves can point to a solid background. Euro Power Centrum is controlled by Nurol International B.V. (which is Amsterdam-registered but a daughter company of the Turkish Nurol Group) and the Ankara-based Mesa Mesken Sanayi Anonium Sirketi, and together the companies own a 74 percent stake. The third shareholder is the Polish concern Deporium Incorporation.
The Nurol Group is a large organization whose subsidiaries, 19 in all, are involved in activities as wide-ranging as steel, insurance and construction. Nurol Construction and Trading Co earlier this year won a contract, as part of a consortium, to build a tunnel under the Bosfor (the Bosphorus Tunel Crossing Project), which was worth some $800 million. The second shareholder is part of the Mesa Group, which specializes in residential construction but has also developed office buildings and shopping centers. Its projects include a $80 million office-residential-retail complex that it is currently developing in Riga in Latvia and a 16,000 square meter office building in the Libyan capital of Tripoli.
Euro Power Centrum has, according to Zdzisław Derlicki, been present on the Polish market for three years and has been carefully investigating its potential for a scheme such as Maximus. The location of the project, in particular, was selected after much deliberation.
"As well as being in the vicinity of Warsaw," says Derlicki, "the project will also be well-connected to the manufacturing regions of Śląsk and Łódż, who are well-prepared for a new investment such as this. The Nadarzyn area has an approved development plan and we anticipate that it is fertile ground for the growth of light industry, which would service the center in the long run."
Just under two years ago, the Spanish developer Neinver opened its 15,000-square meter 'Factory' outlet center in Ursus, just outside the capital. This offers branded products, mainly clothing items, at 30 percent discounts, and gives manufacturers the opportunity to offload their end-of-line stock.
Another current phenomenon in this country is the retail park. Usually spearheaded by a household goods store, such as IKEA, this concept entails a group of sizeable units in close proximity, linked by walkways. The total space they occupy usually comes to around 100,000 square meters.
These concepts are, however, commonplace in the rest of Europe: there are already around a hundred factory outlets across the continent and the number of retail parks is well in advance of that.
'Wholesale centers,' though, are much thinner on the ground and are used only in Hungary and Italy at present. There will, nevertheless, be one on Polish soil come the end of this year.
"Our tenants are producers, wholesalers and importers of clothes, shoes and accessories, and after these AGD equipment and toys," says Zdzisław Derlicki, general director of Euro Power Centrum, developer of the Wholesale Center Maximus. "Their clients will be retailers and European merchants and not the everyday customer."
Located in Nadarzyn near the Warsaw-Katowice road, some 19 kilometers from the capital, the project will initially consist of four halls totaling 92,000 square meters, though the ultimate aim is for this to expand to seven halls of a similar size. After this, there are plans to develop residential, office, industrial and service schemes on the 111-hectare plot. That, to say the least, is not unambitious, and begs the question: who is behind it all?
The straight answer is that it is yet another Turkish investment, and it would be fair to say that these haven't always enjoyed a favorable press in Poland. Infamous examples of such projects include the Reform Plaza office building and the Reform Center retail center, which were developed and designed by the Reform Company Ltd and Mr Vahap Toy. Unloved by many in Warsaw when delivered to the market, these schemes have since re-invented themselves under new ownership as Millenium Plaza and Blue City, respectively. Mr Toy, however, went on to head a proposed $6 billion investment in the small eastern town of Biała Podlaska which would consist of, among other amenities, an international airport, formula 1 racetrack and a replica of the Eiffel Tower. Described by President Kwaśniewski as no less than a "phantasmagoria," the scheme was a victim of its own overblown ambition.
Other Turkish developments in Warsaw have included Eurocentrum on Aleje Jerozolimskie, only a stone's throw away from Millenium Plaza. Planned as a five-building roadside complex to consist of four office developments and a hotel, this has enjoyed a more positive response from local architects, for instance, and has signed significant deals with its tenants. To date, however, only one building of the five, 'Alpha,' has been completed.
There is some reason to believe that Maximus Wholesale Center will not share the notoriety endured by the Reform Company Ltd and Vahap Toy, however. For one, it has attracted a list of illustrious names to its cause, including some who have been centrally involved in the rejuvenated Reform Center, that is Blue City. One such is the architectural firm APA Wojciechowski, and another is leasing agent DTZ, whose Renata Kusznierska is openly enthusiastic about the scheme.
"Retail is developing in various ways in Poland," she says, "and this project represents something new and untypical. It's an unexplored niche in this country and we like to keep an open mind and rise to new challenges."
The investors themselves can point to a solid background. Euro Power Centrum is controlled by Nurol International B.V. (which is Amsterdam-registered but a daughter company of the Turkish Nurol Group) and the Ankara-based Mesa Mesken Sanayi Anonium Sirketi, and together the companies own a 74 percent stake. The third shareholder is the Polish concern Deporium Incorporation.
The Nurol Group is a large organization whose subsidiaries, 19 in all, are involved in activities as wide-ranging as steel, insurance and construction. Nurol Construction and Trading Co earlier this year won a contract, as part of a consortium, to build a tunnel under the Bosfor (the Bosphorus Tunel Crossing Project), which was worth some $800 million. The second shareholder is part of the Mesa Group, which specializes in residential construction but has also developed office buildings and shopping centers. Its projects include a $80 million office-residential-retail complex that it is currently developing in Riga in Latvia and a 16,000 square meter office building in the Libyan capital of Tripoli.
Euro Power Centrum has, according to Zdzisław Derlicki, been present on the Polish market for three years and has been carefully investigating its potential for a scheme such as Maximus. The location of the project, in particular, was selected after much deliberation.
"As well as being in the vicinity of Warsaw," says Derlicki, "the project will also be well-connected to the manufacturing regions of Śląsk and Łódż, who are well-prepared for a new investment such as this. The Nadarzyn area has an approved development plan and we anticipate that it is fertile ground for the growth of light industry, which would service the center in the long run."
