POLAND Ghelamco Invest plans to raise PLN 250 mln from a public offer of 2.5 mln bonds, hoping to tempt investors with new projects. The company is also in the process of obtaining bank financing. It is currently in negotiations over the lease of an amount of space in the Warsaw Spire project, which will comprise a total of 109,000 sqm. The potential tenants are from the financial sector (a total area of app. 34,500 sqm), from the IT and new technologies sector (app. 31,000 sqm), from the consultancy sector (app. 4,000 sqm) and from the public sector (app. 12,000 sqm). So far the tenants secured for the complex are Frontex – the European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States of the European Union (14,600 sqm) and BNP Paribas Securities Services (4,000 sqm).
Not only The Spire
Ghelamco could potentially build app. 50,000 sqm of additional office and useable space on plots next to the Warsaw Spire. The Spire project will also involve the construction of the Chopin Tower residential skyscraper at some unspecified time in the future. In Warsaw’s Służewiec district Ghelamco has also secured the first tenant for an office project under development at ul. Wołoska 24, which will add 21,300 sqm to the market. Its first tenant, Arval Polska from the BNP Paribas group, has concluded a lease for almost 2,500 sqm of offices. The developer has also finalised a EUR 34.1 mln loan agreement with PKO BP over financing the office building. An additional PLN 10 mln has been granted to the developer to finance the VAT on the project. The next project to be carried out by the company will most probably be the Sienna Towers office complex, which is to be built on the Rondo Daszyńskiego roundabout in Wola district. The developer already has a building permit for the construction of three office towers (two of 130m and one 86m in height), which will have a total area of 84,000 sqm, as well as a 15,000 sqm retail section in a podium section. Ghelamco is planning to build another skyscraper under the name of Spinnaker on ul. Prosta in Warsaw’s Wola district. The 180m tower with an office area of 40,000 sqm is to be built on a 0.32 ha plot. Site development conditions have been issued for the project and the mayor of Warsaw has issued a directive permitting the sale of a section of the parcel on ul. Pańska to Apollo Invest from the Ghelamco group without a tender procedure. The next skyscraper planned by Ghelamco is the Sobieski Tower project – a more than 100m building with an office and service area of 35,000 sqm, on a 0.27 ha site near pl. Zawiszy in Warsaw. The developer already has the site development conditions and is currently preparing the building permit design. Ghelamco is also working together with PKP on the site development plan of the Warszawa Gdańska station. The project has been designed to involve the construction of a new railway station to be surrounded by commercial buildings, with the total development area amounting to app. 165,000 sqm. Investment costs for the project are estimated at PLN 1.5 bln. The first stage of the construction is to start in 2015 and will mostly involve the construction of a new railway station. Ghelamco has also acquired a permit for the construction of two office buildings on ul. Postępu in Warsaw’s Służewiec district. This is to be a complex with an office and service area of app. 29,000 sqm. The Belgian developer is also working on a residential project in Warsaw, which will consist of two historic buildings (Foksal 13 and Foksal 15) on a 0.22 ha plot. A building permit has been applied for, while the marketing and sales strategy prepared for the project is already underway.
Wrocław ready for launch
The developer’s plans also include a large office project – Synergy Business Park – on ul. Horbaczewskiego and ul. Na Ostatnim Groszu in Wrocław. The first stage of the project includes buildings ‘B’ and ‘C’ with a total area of 15,000 sqm. The second stage involves the construction of building ‘A’ with an area of 25,000 sqm. The developer has a building permit for both stages of the project and is now ready to start the construction of the first stage. Ghelamco is also planning to build an app. 80m office and theatre building on pl. Grzybowski in Warsaw. It also owns plots for projects on ul. Daniłowiczowskiej (next to Senator), in Warsaw’s Powiśle area (most probably for offices) as well as in Żerań district. According to Ghelamco, the construction of individual projects and the plan for the new investment will be adjusted to the market conditions and how possible it is to acquire attractive new locations.
