Ghelamco sells Crown Square to Invesco RE

Belgian developer Ghelamco has sold its Crown Square office project in the Wola district of Warsaw to international property investment manager Invesco Real Estate (IRE). The Breeam certified class-A office building was sold for nearly EUR 64 mln.

Crown Square has been purchased for one of IRE's pan-European funds and represents the fund's first acquisition in the region. The project offers 16,000 m² of office space and 227 parking spaces.

Crown Square is the third and final Ghelamco Crown project in Warsaw, the other projects being Crown Point and Crown Tower. It was delivered in April 2010 and hosts Oracle, Nike, Microstrategy and GATX Rail Poland as its main tenants. Construction of Crown Square was completed throughout the international economic slowdown of 2008 and 2009, as Ghelamco's market research had indicated strong demand for prime office space in the area, the company said. Within months after completion, Crown Square was fully occupied.

Paddy Bingham, IRE's director of Fund Management said: 'The acquisition has further diversified our pan-European fund with properties across six of our seven target markets, being in France, Germany, the Netherlands, the UK, Spain and now Poland, and brings the fund's size to about EUR 480 mln.'

This is Ghelamco's second transaction with IRE following the purchase in 2005 of the Zaulek Piekna scheme in Warsaw.