Investors circle Warsaw Financial Center

International investors are showing a keen interest in the Warsaw Financial Center (WFC) skyscraper which has been placed on the market. The 143 metre-high tower is understood to have a guide price of about EUR 200 mln.

The vendors of the Warsaw landmark are Austrian listed company CA Immo and Pramerica's German TMW Immobilien business. Neither commented on the sale.

CA Immo and TMW declined to comment.

WFC was constructed in 1996-7 and CA Immo and TMW Pramerica Immobilien acquired it in 2005 for an investment of EUR 120 mln.

The asset has 32 floors above ground and offers a total of 50,000 m² of office space. Reaching 165 metres with its spire, WFC is located in the Central Business District near to the city's central train station and the adjoining Zlote Tarasy shopping centre. The tenants include the Worldbank, European Commission, General Electric and CMS Cameron McKenna.

Jones Lang LaSalle is marketing the building. The property adviser declined to comment on the guide price due to confidentially agreements. 'The WFC is another example of a prime asset being sold in Warsaw that is attracting strong interest,' said John Duckworth, managing director of Central and Eastern Europe at JLL.

The sales process is expected to take several months.

International investors have carried out several real estate transactions in the Polish capital recently.

This week a fund managed by AXA Real Estate and CBRE Group's Property Fund Central Europe unit, in which Unibail-Rodamco is a limited partner, acquired ING Real Estate Development's 77% stake in Zlote Tarasy.

In January, Deka Immobilien announced the acquisition of the Mokotowska Square office property in Warsaw from developer Yareal International.

A month earlier Qatar Investment Authority bought the new headquarters development of Poland's national telecommunications provider Telekomunikacja Polska in Warsaw.