Skanska’s commercial development unit in Central Eastern Europe has summarized its 2017 performance in Poland, Romania, Hungary and the Czech Republic. The company has sold seven buildings for over EUR 360 M and leased 145 000 sqm in ten CEE markets, a 10% increase on 2016.
In 2017 Skanska had at one time 350,000 sqm in 17 ongoing projects. By the end of the year the company had delivered five projects with a total of almost 86,000 sqm. Acquired land plots secured another potential 315,000 sqm to the company’s land bank in all four CEE countries that Skanska operates in, ensuring business operations for the years to come. In 2017, Skanska also invested in Poland's biggest co-working chain – Business Link, with its expansion plan into ten Skanska’s office buildings across CEE, the company will become the biggest network of its kind in Europe and second globally. The investment is the developer’s answer to a growing need for flexible space in corporate portfolios observed in key client’s real estate strategies, especially those from the business services sector.
“The CEE region is maintaining its momentum. Skanska’s performance only confirms that business appreciates the investment value of the region, and is increasingly moving its operations and capital flows to CEE. Now we can offer them added value that they would find difficult to locate in other parts of the world. CEE is where we’ve started to implement the WELL Building Standard which evaluates potable water in a building across 34 categories to ensure its quality is good enough for employees. Furthermore, we are involved in the development of the world's first energy self-efficient office buildings thanks to perovskite solar cell application. CEE leads the way in what the offices of the future will look like”, comments Katarzyna Zawodna, President and CEO of Skanska’s commercial development business in CEE.
Offering valuable assets to international investors
2017 saw huge capital inflows and set a new record transaction volume for CEE. Skanska sold seven office buildings in the region – five in Poland, one in Romania and one in the Czech Republic.
“ In 2017, we once again cooperated with partners such as Union Investment, Niam, and HANSAINVEST. However there are many newcomers who appreciate CEE locations as well. Asian investors are a great example. We also observed that funds were more often interested in platform deals and geographical portfolio diversification. Skanska being present in ten cities across CEE has a great potential to quickly answer investors’ needs and transaction trends,” says Adrian Karczewicz, Head of Divestments at Skanska’s commercial development business in CEE.
Plans for 2018
Having its eyes wide open for office market changes and adapting new solutions in order to follow tenant market trends, Skanska is building up its office portfolio for the most demanding international clients – especially those from banking, finance, IT and business services industries. This year, the company schedules three ongoing projects in Prague and two each in Bucharest and Budapest . In Poland the company enters 2018 with 11 buildings under construction. However, there is more to come by the year end with the TriCity regional market on Skanska’s radar as a new permanent location.