Personality with a capital P

The category is also unique because the candidates are nominated by Eurobuild’s journalists, since it is part of our daily work to commune with the largest market players on a regular basis. Our nominations are then narrowed down to a shortlist of three finalists by the competition’s jury – made up of a large number of impartial experts overseen by KPMG. And then the actual Personality of the Year 2019 will be chosen by the audience of the Eurobuild Awards gala in December, in an electronic vote using handheld devices.

So the time has come for us to announce our eleven nominees together with a short description of their achievements. Needless to say, it is an honour in itself to be included in such a distinguished list.

Karolina Kaim – the charismatic CEO of Tacit Investment, which develops luxury residential and hotel projects. Karolina’s nomination is for her highly active role on the hotel market, including the opening of The Bridge on Ostrów Tumski in Wrocław, but above all for launching the exclusive Nobu brand onto the Polish market – once opened, the five-star hotel at the junction of ul. Wilcza and ul. Koszykowa in Warsaw city centre will be the first hotel of this chain in Central and Eastern Europe.

Magdalena Kowalewska – the country manager of the Polish branch of Immofinanz. She has been employed by this company for many years during which time she has been successively promoted to the position she holds today. Magdalena is currently responsible for all Polish operational activities, including asset management, leasing, development and centre management. She also supervises marketing and human resources. Immofinanz has recently finalised several spectacular property purchase deals that have involved her participation (including the acquisition of Warsaw Spire) and it is also very active in developing the Stop Shop chain shopping centres.

Małgorzata Turek – has recently been made the first female board member of Echo Investment. Małgorzata is responsible for investment, property sales as well as project planning and preparation. She has more than twenty years of experience in the real estate sector, including in investment and development companies as well as international law firms, serving for five years as the COO of Skanska Property Poland.

Richard Aboo – a man almost always associated with just one company: Cushman & Wakefield, where he is a partner and the director of the office space department. He is also responsible for a portfolio of corporate clients. Richard is an expert in the field of large-scale and complex leasing, purchase and financing transactions. He has recently received a significant promotion and is now responsible for developing all of Cushman’s business lines, with particular emphasis on coworking and the proptech field. He also oversees the office agency for the EMEA region.

Filip Dziuda* – the director of leasing and acquisition at Cavatina. The Kraków-based family company that has been a huge success story on the wider Polish market and is now extending its ambitions far beyond the borders of our country. The company has recently announced that it will be developing almost 78,000 sqm of office space in Kraków over the next three years. Furthermore, it will now be launching new projects in Katowice, Łódź, Gdańsk and Bielsko-Biała. In July Cavatina sold the Diamentum Office building for almost EUR 20 mln to British fund Benson Elliot. The company’s Chmielna 89 development in Warsaw city centre is also almost complete.

Stanislav Frnka – for many years the head of HB Reavis in Poland and an ardent devotee of the Polish real estate market. After leaving HB Reavis he decided to stay here and join Griffin Real Estate as a senior partner, to support the company with his many years of experience in development. Filip is also a co-founder of the ProperGate start-up, which has developed a management system for the construction project process, which can reduce delays due to a lack of building materials and also monitors the progress of the construction work.

Menno van der Horst – a member of the board of Dutch conglomerate MVGM, which took over JLL’s real estate management activities in continental Europe in July. The financial details of the transaction remain confidential, but joining the top five largest European players on this market would certainly have required significant investment. The group is now the largest property manager in the Netherlands and Germany as a result of the transaction, with the portfolio of properties managed by MVGM (6.4 mln sqm in these two countries) having been increased threefold. The transaction has also created a strong foothold for MVGM in terms of its expansion into eight other countries: Poland, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Czech Republic, Romania and Slovakia.

Czarek Jarząbek – the boss and co-founder of Golub GetHouse has had a very busy year. In June he announced the launch of the company’s Inspirentals brand, which will be carrying out projects in the rental housing sector. Two Warsaw projects are to be initially developed under this brand: Postępu Apartments and Liberty Tower (almost 900 apartments in total). In July, Czarek closed a record lease for the Polish office market – Mbank will occupy 45,600 sqm in Mennica Legacy Tower. And because in the summer he finally had some free time, he was able to open the LivinnX Kraków student hall in cooperation with CA Ventures – the American company’s first European project.

Kazimierz Kirejczyk – one of the most respected people working on the Polish residential market. He is at once an expert, advisor and researcher, having been the founder and CEO of Reas, which was recognised by many as the most reliable consultancy on the residential market. Kazimierz has received this year’s nomination for successfully incorporating Reas into the structures of international consultancy JLL.

Daniel Puchalski – a market expert, investment land trading specialist as well as the initiator and co-initiator of some of the largest deals on the market, of which he speaks rarely and reticently – as is often the case with super-agents. Daniel started his professional career in the TriCity, but it was only when he moved to Warsaw that he showed what he was really capable of. Initially he was the director of Colliers, then of JLL and recently became a managing partner of Knight Frank.

Jarosław Zagórski – the commercial and development director of Ghelamco Poland, who has been responsible for the efficient and effective execution of the company’s investment plans. And there are plenty of these to choose from – the Belgian developer is currently developing four skyscrapers in The Warsaw Hub and Warsaw Unit complexes in Warsaw’s Wola district. But if you were in any doubt as to whether there is any method in this apparent madness, then you just have to consider Ghelamco’s achievement in securing the investment transaction of the year – the sale of the neighbouring Warsaw Spire Tower to Immofinanz for EUR 386 mln.

As you can see, the competition for the Personality of the Year award is extremely strong this year. Which three will receive the most recognition from the jury of almost 200 experts? And which one of those will be chosen by the guests of the Eurobuild Gala to receive the actual award? Find out on December 3rd at the Doubletree by Hilton hotel in Warsaw.

pictures: Jarosław Zagórski, Ghelamco Poland;

Kazimierz Kirejczyk, Reas;

Karolina Kaim, Tacit Investment;

Małgorzata Turek, Echo Investment;

Richard Aboo, Cushman & Wakefield;

Daniel Puchalski, Knight Frank;

Magdalena Kowalewska, Immofinanz;

Czarek Jarząbek, Golub Gethouse;

* Filip Dziuda has declined our nomination and in his place we are now proposing Daniel Draga, the CFO of Cavatina Holding.

Member of the Board & CFO in CAVATINA Holding S.A. responsible for developing and implementing financial strategy of the Capital Group including 30 companies in Poland and abroad. Daniel Draga is also responsible for financing sources of the Capital Group’s operations as well as cash-flow management.