In 2018, Skanska confirmed its position as leader of the Polish office real estate market. The developer has sold five office buildings and commenced construction of seven more. It has been a busy year for the company, introducing Connected by Skanska, operating system for overall building management, testing perovskite solar cells and green concrete, as well as forming a technological alliance with Microsoft.
In 2018, the Swedish developer has leased 80,000 sqm GLA of modern office space. They have also finished construction of the two High5ive buildings in Krakow, the first building of the Spark complex in Warsaw and the final building of the Silesia Business Park complex in Katowice. This way Skanska has provided a total of 48,500 sqm GLA of new office space to the Polish market.
New Projects and a Wider Offer
In 2018, Skanska has launched the construction of the 140-meter tall Generation Park tower in Warsaw, the second building in Nowy Rynek complex in Poznan and the 1st stage of Wave – the first Skanska office investment in Tricity. Meanwhile in Krakow and Lodz, work has begun on the fourth High5ive and the second Brama Miasta buildings, respectively. In Wroclaw, Skanska has begun the development of the Centrum Południe complex which will be the developer’s seventh and biggest project in the city. Stage one of this investment will comprise two brand new office buildings.
Three of the above-mentioned projects – Generation Park, Wave and Centrum Południe– are designed to receive WELL certification. Focused around the health and well-being of office users, WELL is one of the most exacting office space quality assessment systems. The Spark C building in Warsaw, in which Skanska has set up its Polish head office, is the first in Poland to receive this certification.
– We are currently working on 13 buildings in 8 different office projects. In total, they will provide about 280,000 sqm GLA. It’s an absolute record for us in terms of simultaneous investments. Most of this space will be ready for lease in 2019 and 2020. We are the only company in the whole market to rely solely on internal financing which provides our clients with the safety and assurance that all our projects will be delivered on time and in strict accordance with project specifications – says Arkadiusz Rudzki, managing director at Skanska office unit in Poland. – We are also laying foundations for future development in oncoming years. We are planning new investments and implementing new technologies and solutions such as Connected by Skanska, perovskite solar cells or green concrete – Mr Rudzki adds.
– Preparing for future office investments in the 7 biggest cities of Poland, we are constantly growing our portfolio of marketable land. Last year, we have bought two lots of land in Poland’s biggest office real estate markets – one in Warsaw and one in Krakow. We are also investing in broadening our offer. We’re adjusting it to our clients’ needs, for example by buying 100% shares in the company that manages the five Business Link offices in: Astoria, Maraton, High5ive, Green2Day and Visionary in Prague – says Ewelina Kałużna, Leasing and Asset Management Director at Skanska office unit in Poland.
Five Office Buildings Sold
In 2018, Skanska sold five office buildings in Poland for a total sum of EUR 210 million. Two buildings in the Silesia Business Park complex were bought by Philippine company ISOC Holdings Inc., while the Spark C office building was acquired by German investor KGAL Investment Management GmbH & Co. KG. As for the Nowa Fabryczna project in Lodz and Green2Day in Wroclaw, these were both sold to Swedish investment fund Niam. As a result, Niam’s portfolio currently holds 8 Skanska projects located in regional Polish markets.
– We are constantly strengthening our position in the Polish office real estate market and gaining the trust of new clients, some of them based outside Europe. The fact that investment funds which have bought our buildings in the past still value the Polish market and are interested in acquiring new assets makes us very satisfied – says Arkadiusz Rudzki.
Makes us happy
In all of the CEE markets in which Skanska is present – i.e. Poland, Romania, Hungary and the Czech Republic – the developer has so far sold 9 office building for a total sum of EUR 431 million. At the same time, the company has leased 153,000 sqm of office space in the above-mentioned countries which constitutes a 5.5% rise compared to 2017.
Green Future Powered by Innovation
In 2019, Skanska plans to continue developing its market-changing technologies. Among these are the perovskite solar cells which are currently being tested in the Spark building. The ground-breaking technology developed by Polish perovskite pioneers Saule Technologies holds the promise of making Skanska office buildings energy self-sufficient in the future. Meanwhile, Generation Park in Warsaw has seen the construction of a pavement that, owing to a special mix of concrete which turns NOx particles into neutral nitrogenous compounds, virtually cleans the air of exhaust fumes. The aim is to build a city square the size of a football pitch made solely of “green concrete” around the Generation Park complex. Skanska also plans to further develop this innovative solution in other projects in Poland and the wider CEE region.
Skanska was also the first real estate development company in Poland to sign a strategic cooperation agreement in the area of PropTech and know-how exchange with Microsoft. The two companies want to focus on developing new solutions for advanced data analytics, AI and cloud computing. They will also join forces in analysing building and system data from Connected by Skanska, that is the developer's proprietary operating system for overall building management and work surfaces.
Skanska Office Department, 2018 in Numbers:
- Ca. 80,000 sqm GLA of leased office space
- 4 buildings completed with about 48,500 sqm GLA
- 5 buildings sold to investment funds for a total of EUR210 million
- 7 buildings started in 6 different projects
- 280,000 sqm currently under construction in 13 buildings and 8 projects
- 100% shares in the company that manages the 5 Business Link offices in Warsaw’s Astoria, as well as buildings developed by Skanska in Poznań (Maraton), Krakow (High5ive), Wrocław (Green2Day) and Prague (Visionary)