Kulczyk Silverstein Properties buys Warsaw office

Kulczyk Silverstein Properties (KSP) has announced its first purchase in Europe with the acquisition of the Stratos Office Center located in the central business district of Warsaw, Poland. The fully-let office complex, which was completed in 2000 and has a GLA of around 11,000 m2, was acquired from Pramerica Real Estate Investors. No financial details were disclosed.

KSP plans further acquisitions in Poland and other countries of the CEE region. KSP was founded in late 2010 as a joint venture between Kulczyk Real Estate Holding S.àr.l. (KREH) and Silverstein Properties, Inc. (SPI) to develop and acquire office, retail and mixed-use properties throughout Central and Eastern Europe. SPI, based in New York, operates 850,000 m² of commercial and residential properties located mainly in New York. SPI has $10 bn of planned developments including three new skyscrapers at the World Trade Center in New York and Four Seasons projects in New York and Orlando.

Kulczyk Investments, the parent company of KREH, is an international conglomerate that focuses on investment opportunities in global emerging markets, in particular in brewery, oil and gas, energy and infrastructure and real estate. The company has $3 bn in net assets.

Pramerica acquired the property in 2006. Commenting on the transaction, Neil Gregory-Eaves of Colliers International, who represented the vendor in the sale, ´The Stratos offering attracted substantial interest amongst investors and lenders, reflecting a growing confidence in the prospects for Warsaw’s office market. The Warsaw office market has a vacancy rate of 6% and rents in many districts, including the CBD, are under upward pressure.´

The transaction was financed by Landesbank Berlin AG and Berlin Hyp and was brokered by Colliers International. Hogan Lovells acted for KSP while Salans acted for the vendor.