PL

Edition 1 (177) January 2013

Endpiece

On pessimists and optimists

Anew year has begun. Disappointingly for some, the world did not come to an end on December 21st, so we need to face up to the fact of our continuing existence. And this is why we decided to examine the virtues of both the current pessimistic and optimistic outlooks for the market. As Polish poet Stanisław Jerzy Lec used to say, the only difference between optimism and pessimism is the date of the end of the world.

Ewa Andrzejewska
Eurobuild Awards

Judged on the last match

Our strength will lie not so much in generating value through new projects but in holding properties and adding to their value," he says about the future of Echo Investment. He also mentions a closed chapter - his presence on the construction market. "I will write a book about it one day," adds Michał Sołowow, the founder and the largest stakeholder of Echo Investment and a number of other companies

Ewa Andrzejewska
Events

The winners take it all

"Superb." "Prestigious." "Outstanding." "A true celebration of the real estate market"... these were just some of the opinions voiced about this year's Eurobuild Awards Gala, now in its third year

Radosław Górecki
Events

Independently minded

At the Eurobuild Awards 2012, 25 categories were chosen by an independent jury. We asked the winners what they thought and felt about being the recipients of these accolades adjudicated by their peers

Eurobuild CEE
Hotels

Tenants know best

Success for a developer or a facility manager does not merely involve achieving the highest sale price, but also having satisfied tenants. This is why receiving an award chosen by them is a source of even greater satisfaction. This year the companies to be honoured by such tenant appreciation were Virako, Unibail-Rodamco and Prologis

Aneta Cichla
Green projects

Cinematic scale

POLAND Helios, part of Grupa Agora, celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2012 and decided to give itself a birthday present. At the end of December it matched its largest competitor, Cinema City, in terms of the number of its cinemas in Poland. However, the company's appetite is far from sated. This year it wants to finally conquer the cinema market by extending its chain with five new multiplexes, leaving its competition trailing behind.

Aneta Cichla
Green projects

A shade of residential green

ROMANIA Most people wouldn't associate Romania with eco-friendly development, but one look around the country throws up a surprising number of innovative residential projects. Perhaps the least innovative of these would be building houses out of cob, as this is a technology that dates back to the stone age.

Alex Hayes
Hotels

Western civilisation

POLAND Expectations have been exceeded and there is an equally ambitious programme for the next year - this is how the current performance and activities of franchise hotel chain Best Western in Poland could be summarised. The international hotel group from the United States, which opened its first Polish hotel in 1999, has no plans to slow down. The company insists it will continue to influence the further professionalisation of the Polish hotel market.

Aneta Cichla
Stock market report

Santa brings cheer to the bourses

December turned out to be a festive time for the stock markets, as Father Christmas dropped in with presents for the traders, unperturbed by the problems with the American budget or, in the case of Poland, significantly weaker data for the third quarter

(Mir)
Feature

Looking through investors eyes

He has access to capital and his only problem is how to invest the funds raised. He has an appetite for finished properties and development projects. Mieczysław Godzisz, the president of the management board of Hines Polska, reveals his plans for this year

Ewa Andrzejewska
Feature

The crunch with perfect timing

"The property market contributed to a large extent to the current global crisis. This speculative bubble eventually burst and now we are paying the price. In 2013 we will reach the bottom. But after that things will get better." This is the opinion of Maciej Reluga, the chief economist at Bank Zachodni WBK, who speaks exclusively to Eurobuild CEE'

Radosław Górecki
Interior Design

Designed for growth

The weaker economic outlook for the residential market could also mean a slowdown of the interior design market. It might, but it doesn't have to. Polish and foreign furniture manufacturers operating in this business are planning the expansion and development of their sales chains

Zuzanna Wiak
Events

Flexible friends

This year is not going to be an easy one. However, the mood on the market is not entirely gloomy. Most of the participants of the latest conference organised by Eurobuild Conferences emphasised that we can look to the future with some optimism

Radosław Górecki
Endpiece

The bunker mentality

According to experts on Mesoamerican cultures, the last day of the Mayan calendar was to have fallen on December 21st, 2012. when my calendar expires, it only means it's time to buy a new one. But for some of the more eschatologically-minded among us, it meant that a huge cataclysm would annhiliate the whole of humankind

Zuzanna Wiak

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