Five stars for ten years

So how did the idea for these jubilee categories arise, I hear you ask? “We intend to honour outstanding companies that have been successful not only over the previous twelve months, but that have also transformed the image of the market over the last ten years, by consistently developing new services, conquering fresh markets and introducing spectacular and innovative projects,” explains Katarzyna Matejuk, the director of the Eurobuild Awards.

As has already been mentioned, this year we will also be honouring the Investor of the Decade, CEE – a category that is open to any investor operating on the CEE commercial property market between 2009 and 2019. The jury will look at the company’s portfolio, the volume and value of projects purchased between 2009 and 2019, the company’s reputation and its unique characteristics.

Then there will be the Warehouse Developer of the Decade, CEE award, which again is eligible to any developer active in the CEE warehouse sector over the last ten years. The jury will consider the company’s presence, geographical range, reputation, its leasing and financial figures, and the number, size, originality, variety and significance of the projects it has completed.

The same factors will be assessed for two additional accolades strictly for Polish developers that have been active in their respective segments over the last decade: the Retail Developer of the Decade, Poland and the Office Developer of the Decade, Poland.

And finally, there will be the Real Estate Agency of the Decade, Poland award, which is open to any real estate agency team active in the country since 2009. This time the jury will consider the amount of space leased, the number and significance of the deals concluded, as well as the presence and reputation of the team on the market.

The voting in these five jubilee categories will also be slightly different. The finalists will be chosen by a specially selected elite group of jurors who will meet in November for a closed session. In this discussion a shortlist of candidates will be drawn up and the criteria for choosing the winners will be decided upon. At the same meeting, these jurors will then also take part in a secret vote for the winners of the five new categories, although, as usual with the Eurobuild Awards, it will be supervised by KPMG.



Robert Dobrzycki, Europe CEO of Panattoni

Not for the first time

Maybe some of our colleagues working on this market will remember that there has already been a Winners of the Decade presentation at the Eurobuild Awards. This took place during the very first Gala, in 2010. But how have the companies that picked up those laurels evolved over the subsequent decade?

“Panattoni will celebrate its fifteenth anniversary in Europe next year. The first five years can be viewed as the start and launch of the company in some very specific conditions – such as when Lehman Brothers went bust in 2008, which triggered the global financial crisis. But the last ten years have been marked by a great deal of real market development and by us building our position as the market leaders,” comments Robert Dobrzycki, the chief executive officer for Europe at Panattoni Europe, the winner of the Warehouse Developer of the Decade Award in 2010. “In the last ten years we have delivered 6 mln sqm in Poland and expanded our activities to Germany and the UK. A decade ago – despite the ongoing crisis – we expanded the portfolio of our own parks along the A1, A2, A4 and A8 motorways, tapping into the ‘Euro 2012 effect’ while also maintaining a very low vacancy index. We educated clients about built-to-suit projects; we also started the trend for introducing production facilities outside our own parks in Special Economic Zones. We set new records for leased and built space; and we became Amazon’s partner in the Central Europe region in 2014. It was the coming of age of online sales that really led to the flourishing of the industrial real estate sector and the growing importance of urban logistics, or what is known as last mile supply. Thus we came up with the concept of Panattoni Europe City Logistics Parks. The huge growth dynamics of the e-commerce sector has been fuelling the interest not only of tenants but also of the capital markets. The perception of Poland and its industrial real estate sector has also been transformed. It is extremely lucrative ground for investment funds today, and these facilities are regarded as highly attractive products,” believes Robert Dobrzycki.

Interestingly, the collapse of Lehman Brothers had a significant impact on the development of another successful and much garlanded company, by prompting significant changes in its policy after 2008. “We successfully exited key office and warehouse projects as the market peaked just before the crisis, and then the next few years were a period in which we focused on optimising our debt structure with the aim of reducing the lending from our major financial partners,” explains Rafał Nowicki, the CEO for Europe at Apollo-Rida, which in 2010 won the award for the Investment Deal of the Decade for the acquisition of Metro’s portfolio in 2004. “With the first signs of stabilisation, we started to actively strive for new development projects, one example of which is the construction of an office building on ul. Heweliusza in Gdańsk, which has just been completed. In 2018 we also closed the sale of our retail property portfolio. This transaction was record-breaking in terms of its scale and generated substantial financial results. Unfortunately, this period was not without some sadness – David Mitzner, our founder and long-time CEO, passed away in September 2016. However, David had already cemented the unbroken success and growth prospects of the company. The investment opportunities open to the company in Warsaw as well as regional cities are still encouraging for us,” adds Rafał Nowicki.



Rafał Nowicki, Apollo Rida

And all the usual annual awards…

Finally, it should be pointed out that apart from the jubilee awards, the selection of annual Eurobuild Awards winners will rtake place as usual, as we will be still be honouring the best performers of the various real estate segments over the past twelve months. So the Eurobuild Awards 2019 will include its 22 traditional categories, the nominations for which can be submitted until October 23rd, as usual, on the www.eurobuildawards.com website.