2015 was another year of strong transaction results for Skanska Commercial Development Europe. The company finalized the sale of 11 office buildings located in three countries in the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) region, achieving a transaction volume reaching nearly 500 million euros. The developer is currently preparing its sales portfolio for 2016 and is regularly acquiring new land for the construction of new projects.
Skanska Commercial Development Europe continues its transaction successes and maintains its market leadership position. After a record-breaking year in 2014, when the company put 9 office buildings up for sale, in 2015 Skanska offered investors 8 new buildings. According to JLL data, the transaction volume for the office sector in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Romania last year amounted to approximately 2.8 billion euros. Skanska’s sales activity (11 closed transactions) accounted for over 20% of this amount.
– Last year was an important period for us, as we carried out the largest office transaction in the history of Skanska’s presence in the CEE region – the sale of a portfolio of four office buildings located in Krakow and Katowice. Moreover, it was the largest transaction carried out on the CEE office market in 2015 – comments Adrian Karczewicz, Transaction Director at Skanska Commercial Development Europe (CDE). – The sale of the portfolio, combined with the finalization of the Green Horizon, Dominikański, and Malta House building transactions, accounted for 25% of the total office transaction volume in Poland and over 45% of the total volume recorded in Polish regional cities. Furthermore, three more Skanska office buildings located in Prague, Ostrava, and Bucharest also found buyers last year. We have noted growing investor interest in office projects. Despite a slight decline in capitalization rates, investment products in the CEE region often offer higher returns compared to similar assets located in Western European countries.
– Investors were attracted by, among other things, our good results in the leasing market, which guarantee them a long-term and stable return on investment. In 2015, we signed lease agreements for nearly 65,000 sqm in office buildings across Poland. That is roughly the area of nine football pitches. Most of it was leased by companies from the modern business services sector in regional cities. Interestingly, this year we signed a significant number of agreements with companies we had not had the opportunity to work with before. A large portion of our tenants in 2015 expanded their operations in Poland, choosing Skanska buildings in new locations. This is proof that there is a good investment climate in our country and that regional cities attract business – says Arkadiusz Rudzki, Managing Director of Skanska Property Poland.
– We are constantly implementing our strategy of steady and sustainable development in the CEE region. We set ourselves the goal of being the company of first choice for tenants and investors. Our global experience and extensive knowledge allow us to provide our business partners with top-class products and services tailored strictly to their needs. We focus on customer service solutions aimed at tenants and on transparent, value-based transaction processes. We are pleased that global players appreciate the high quality of our projects and consider us when looking for new investment opportunities. We deeply believe in all our markets and will continue to develop our business by delivering one to two office projects annually in each of them. We are glad that as a developer, Skanska has the largest regional reach, covering all the most important business centers in 10 CEE office markets. This means that we are able to provide sustainable and flexible office solutions for our partners expanding their business operations – adds Katarzyna Zawodna, President of Skanska Commercial Development Europe.
In 2015, Skanska completed 4 office buildings in the CEE region: Dominikański in Wrocław, Silesia Business Park B in Katowice, Green Court Bucharest B in Bucharest, and Corso Court in Prague. The company signed lease agreements for over 110,000 sqm of GLA in four countries in the region. The company is currently conducting construction work on nine office projects, seven of which are located in Poland. Skanska Commercial Development Europe is preparing a portfolio of properties for sale in 2016, which will offer office buildings located in Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Romania.