JLL expects EUR 2.5b property deal volume in Poland for 2012

Jones Lang LaSalle expects a transaction volume of EUR 2.5 bn or more in the Polish commercial real estate market for 2012.

The forecast is based on preliminary figures that indicates Poland remained the most active market in Central and Eastern Europe throughout the year.

JLL noted that four significant Warsaw deals closed in November and a further EUR 300 mln to EUR 400 mln was expected to close before year-end, lifting the total to EUR 2.5 bn or higher.

The first three quarters of 2012 recorded total transactions of EUR 1.07 bn across all sectors in Poland. Total assets transacted in Q3 included EUR 187 mln in offices and around EUR 27 mln in industrial.

The situation in Q4 has improved as a number of transactions have already been closed and some more are envisaged to be concluded across all commercial sectors in Poland by the end of the year.

During the fourth quarter the market saw the closing of Union Investment's acquisition of the Manufaktura shopping centre in £ódŸ (EUR 390 mln), the largest transaction in the Polish retail real estate market in 2012. JLL was an adviser on the deal.

Tomasz Trzós³o, head of Capital Markets, CEE, Jones Lang LaSalle, commented: 'Some high profile office transactions closed in Warsaw in November, and these have materially increased the annual volume of investment transactions in Poland. JLL has been involved as a sale advisor in some of the projects, these include Warsaw Financial Centre, Platinium Business Park, Marynarska Business Park or International Business Centre I and II, all landmark office projects in Warsaw and all with values well exceeding EUR 100 mln.'

'These transactions were preceded by the spectacular Manufaktura acquisition, in which the JLL team was also lucky to be involved. These five transactions take the current total investment volume of 2012 in Poland to above EUR 2.2 bn . We also expect that the last two weeks of 2012 will generate a further EUR 300 mln (or possibly more), and as a result total 2012 investment volume in Poland will likely be above EUR 2.5 bn.'

This compares well with the total of EUR 2.75 bn in 2011, which was a very strong year in the Polish investment market.