Belgian developer Ghelamco will start construction shortly of a new €530 mln office complex to the north of Warsaw, PropertyEU can reveal.

Belgian developer Ghelamco will start construction shortly of a new €530 mln office complex to the north of Warsaw, PropertyEU can reveal.

The scheme, dubbed Dworzec Gdanski, represents a joint venture with state-owned railway group PKP SA (Polish Railways) and is located near Unibail-Rodamco’s Arcadia shopping centre in the city. It will provide 165,000 m2 of commercial space as well as a new train station on completion in 2028.

'The entire project will be a spectacular example of how new city areas should be created,' Jeroen van der Toolen, managing director of Ghelamco in CEE, told PropertyEU.

In Poland Ghelamco is best known for the Warsaw Spire, the largest office project in the capital city slated for completion at the end of the year. The 100,000 m2 scheme consists of a 220-metre high tower and two side buildings in a new district called Daszynskiego roundabout.

The €300 mln project is currently 30% let with tenants including BNP Paribas and Frontex, the EU's external border control agency.

‘We expect it to be 70% leased by year-end,’ Van Der Toolen added.

Development activity in the region is benefitting from the opening up of the financing market, which has seen a dramatic change in the past few months.

Commercial property lending margins have come down in the major cities from 200 bps in mid-2014 to around 150 bps at present for a 65% loan-to-value facility.

For new developments, loans are available at a cost of 250 bps and for a loan to value of up to 60%. Offices are more challenging given the oversupply in the Warsaw office market but for retail projects banks require a pre-let ratio of about 40%.

The largest retail project currently under way in Poland is Apsys' €300 mln development of Posnania in Poznañ. The mall, covering 100,000 m2 over 300 shops, is slated for delivery in the second half of 2016.