Griffin Real Estate buys office building in Lodz for €66m

CEE-focused investor Griffin Real Estate has acquired office complex Green Horizon in the Polish city of Lodz from Skanska Property Poland for SEK 600 mln (€66 mln).

Green Horizon is Skanska’s first investment in Lodz. The 33,000 m2 complex was completed in the second quarter of 2013 and is almost entirely leased, with tenants including Infosys BPO (over 21,000 m2), Southwestern and PwC. The complex is LEED Gold certified.

The sale is Skanska’s third in Poland in the last two months, following the divestment of the first phase of Kapelanka 42 in Krakow and the sale of the Dominikanski office complex in Wroclaw.

‘The Lodz transaction can be a sign that even the top-tier companies are beginning to see the potential of the city,’ commented Adrian Karczewicz, transaction director at Skanska Commercial Development Europe. ‘This is only the third divestment in Lodz over the last six years. However, the city should not be overlooked as it is among the five most important outsourcing locations in Poland. This sector has already generated 130,000 jobs in the country and is the fastest growing sector of the Polish economy.’

For Griffin Real Estate, which focuses on CEE and has assets under management totalling around 120,000 m2, the deal is not its first in Lodz. The company recently bought the premises of the former Scheibler factory, where it is planning to carry out a full renovation of historic buildings and construct new buildings.

‘Green Horizon is a good purchase for an investor looking for high-class office buildings in attractive locations outside capital cities,’ said Dorota Wysokiñska-Kuzdra, senior partner at Griffin Real Estate. ‘Long-term lease agreements, a very good location and the high standard of a project are the basic characteristics which should distinguish an attractive office building from an investor’s point of view.’

Skanska Property Poland was represented in the transaction by Cushman & Wakefield, while Dentons advised on the legal side. Law firm Linklaters and Colliers International acted for Griffin.