Skanska puts regional office portfolio up for sale in Poland

Skanska Property Poland is for the first time putting a regional office portfolio on the market rather than a single asset.

The move reflects both the growing strength of the occupational markets in key Polish cities and rising investor appetite for modern office buildings outside of Warsaw.

The green office development arm of Swedish construction giant Skanska is marketing Kapelanka 42 A and Axis in Krakow together with Building A and B of Silesia Business Park in Katowice in a single 62,000 m2 portfolio.

CBRE and Colliers International have been appointed as joint agents for the sale.

'We have decided to market a portfolio of new office buildings in top Polish regional cities following the positive market response for, among others, our Dominikanski project in Wroclaw,' commented Adrian Karczewicz, transaction director of Skanska Commercial Development Europe.

Hamburg-based Union Investment Real Estate acquired the 40,000 m2 Dominikanski asset in December last year for €117 mln. At the time some 52% of the space was pre-let ahead of the scheduled completion in the third quarter of this year.

'The leasing markets in these cities offer an enticing combination of strong tenant demand, low rent profiles and low Class A vacancy rates. It is anticipated that the sale of the portfolio will be closed before the end of the year,' Karczewicz added.

Silesia Business Park in Katowice is a Class A office complex comprising four buildings with a total gross lettable area of 48,000 m2. Building A (12,000 m2 GLA) has been completed and Building B (also 12,000 m2 GLA) is scheduled for completion in September 2015. Skanska aims to achieve LEED Gold certification for the business park.

Kapelanka 42 A in Krakow is a Class A office building with a GLA of over 18,000 m2. The property was recently delivered and is nearly fully leased on a long term basis. The tenant – a global banking institution – has recently expanded in the property and extended its lease. Kapelanka 42 A is LEED Gold-certified.

Also in Krakow, Axis will comprise 21,000 m2 GLA upon completion in Q4 2016. Leasing negotiations with a large global tenant are ongoing and Skanska expects the majority of the property will be leased by the end of the second quarter of 2015.

Click here for information on Skanska's previous office sales in Poland