Investment funds such as Griffin Real Estate, Starwood, Union Investment and TPG are still very active in the CEE region and are increasingly looking for products in regional cities away from capitals, according to Colliers.
Undoubtedly, the BPO/SSC sector is a driving force for the development of office space in regional cities, which translates into a growing trust among funds for products with a tenant from this sector.
In Poland, transactions by these funds have included the office buildings Dominikański in Wrocław (Union Investment) and Green Horizon in Łódź (Griffin).
By contrast, according to the Polish Agency for Information and Foreign Investment, the largest investors in Poland last year were three American companies: the passenger transport company Uber (shared service centre in Krakow, €9m), the financial services company State Street (BPO in Gdansk, €7.3m) and the money transfer company MoneyGram (shared services centre in Warsaw €4.8m).
Sebastian Bedekier, regional director, Poznan, Colliers International said: “As regards the markets in capitals in the CEE region, Warsaw, Bucharest, Budapest, and Prague dominate the BPO/SSC map, and this trend is expected to continue over the coming years.”
A rising star among the capitals of the CEE region is Vilnius, which is becoming an increasingly noticeable destination for the BPO sector, and is the result of a very active promotional strategy by the city’s authorities.
