Kulczyk Silverstein Properties is moving into a new phase of its development as it steps up acquisitions of real estate assets.
Joanna Kowalska-Szymczak acquisitions director of KSP in Poland
The property investment market is shrinking in Poland, with investors looking for safety while waiting out the economic slowdown. But as more commercial properties come to market, just demand from foreign investors seems to be falling, new and often local players are getting into the game. Kulczyk Silverstein Properties, a joint venture of Kulczyk Real Estate Holding and Silverstein Properties (SPI), is one of the companies that’s gearing up for a look at real estate assets around the country.
“There are players active on the market that have both capital and excellent local market knowledge, for whom the current situation is an opportunity to create an investment portfolio,” said Joanna Kowalska-Szymczak, acquisitions director of KSP in Poland.In some market areas, investor activity dropped more sharply than anywhere else in Poland, including mid-size offices and developers projects. “Kulczyk Silverstein Properties is currently active in looking for new possibilities to invest in the commercial property market, considering also offering from outside Warsaw, as well as in the CEE region. Our strategy is not only to acquire assets with stable income, but also to be taking over development projects,” says Piotr Krawczyński, managing director and board member in Kulczyk Silverstein Properties adding that a new know-how from US partner, Silverstein Properties, is planned for both existing and future projects.
After taking Stratos Office Centre, KSP sealed its second deal in Warsaw at the end of July. Two office buildings developed by Hochtief in downtown Warsaw have expanded KSP’s portfolio with a total of 8,000 sqm of space. “This is certainly not the last purchase by KSP planned for this year, our ambitions are much higher,” says Krawczyński. Renovation work on the two facilities has already gotten underway in two of Warsaw’s strategic locations, Mazowiecka and Plac Małachowskiego Streets, with additional 9,100 sqm of retail and office space planned for the Małachowskiego property. With some new acquisitions already planned for 2012, KSP is also busy looking to raise capital from institutional investors. Its new business, KSP Real Estate Investment Management, was set up in the middle of June to collect funds for investing in existing commercial properties. It’s a strategic decision to make it possible for the company to establish a sizeable portfolio, with the offer dedicated to the biggest financial institutions, pension funds and insurance companies, says Piotr Krawczyński. “Some of KSP’s properties could be sold to KSP REIM, though we do not perceive it as a standard in our activity.”
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