The three 100%-owned subsidiaries of Globe Trade Centre S.A. (GTC) have signed a final agreement with funds managed by Heitman European Property Partners III to sell Mokotów Business Park in Warsaw for more than €200 million (USD 287 million).
Mokotów Business Park comprises 107,000 m² of NRA in nine buildings. It has been the first and the largest GTC investments.
The transaction is part of GTC's strategy of rebalancing its property portfolio in Poland, including the sale of mature assets in Warsaw and expansion in other large Polish cities.
GTC started this month construction of the first building in Platinium Business Park. The building will offer 9,000 m² of high-standard office space in prime location across from Mokotów Business Park and is scheduled for completion in Q4 2007.
Next to the recently completed Topaz building, the company is going to start the construction of the 15,000-m² Nefryt Building. In parallel, in the vicinity of the Warsaw International Airport, construction of the first building in Okêcie Business Park is beginning.
Currently, in addition to three office developments in Warsaw comprising 33,000 m², GTC is developing projects in Kraków, Poznañ, Wroc³aw, £ódz, Czêstochowa and Katowice. The Company expects that in 2007 approx. 250,000 m² of net space will be under various stage of development in the seven cities in Poland.
The property markets in Poland are showing strength in all three sectors. The office vacancy rates in major Polish cities range from 1% to 7%. Recently the demand for quality office space has significantly increased, with the biggest requirements coming from outsourcing firms and business process off-shoring operators.
Concurrently GTC is rapidly expanding its operations in Central & Eastern Europe.
GTC is benefiting from the booming regional real estate markets, which has been reflected in this year financial results. In nine months of 2006 GTC achieved more than €165 million (USD 234 million) profit.
Source: GTC
