The Polish commercial property market, the largest in Central and Eastern Europe, has long been dominated by European investors, The Wall Street Europe reports.
But new faces are arriving. The attraction is Poland’s expanding economy and low real estate prices.
In the past 12 months, US firms bought USD 1.4 billion of commercial property in Poland, the highest figure, Real Capital Analytics reported. German investors had topped the list with USD 1.3 billion in the previous 12-month period.
“If you look at the last five to seven years, the market was dominated by German funds,” Dan Harris, managing director at London-based Tristan Capital Partners, told the Wall Street Europe. “Now, you’re seeing a lot more US capital and are even starting to see investors from Asia.”
TH Real Estate, an overseas investment manager owned by US firm TIAA-CREF, for example, will unveil its first Polish investment this week. It paid about USD 62 million for a 50 percent stake in three properties: an outlet shopping centre in Warsaw, and an outlet centre and retail park in Kraków from Spanish outlet-mall developer Neinver
“Poland has a bigger population than Canada, and more people than Australia. For us, the retail sector is a good way to play the consumer-spending angle,” said Chris McGibbon, head of real estate at TIAA-CREF’s general account.
Bank of China and South Korea’s National Pension Service have been among the first Asian investors in Poland, spending a combined USD 1.1 billion in the past two years, according to Real Capital Analytics.
Poland’s gross domestic product expanded 3.4 percent in 2014 compared with 1.7 percent in 2013, which are both well above the 0.9 percent growth seen in the eurozone in 2014, according to Eurostat data.
One of the problems investors face is lack of quality assets to sufficient to meet demand. The Polish market remains relatively small compared with large Western European countries. (jh)