Skanska seeks to build on 10% share of CEE office transactions

Skanska plans to build on its position as the biggest office developer and vendor in Central and Eastern Europe by selling seven to eight new buildings annually in the coming years.

Commercial real estate investment is firming up in the CEE region - excluding Russia - and spreading beyond the main markets, Poland and the Czech Republic. According to JLL, in 2014 the transaction volume in the region reached €7.8 bn, which accounted for a 25% year-on-year growth. Interest from foreign investors in particular is still growing.

The office sector is especially strong. Data compiled by Colliers International records €3.1 bn of office investment transactions across CEE in 2014. Skanska, the biggest office developer in the region, is the market leader and accounted for over 10% of this volume.

Skanska Commercial Development Europe (CDE), the group’s unit responsible for developing modern, green office complexes delivered nine properties to investors in the CEE region last year. As a result, Skanska's office building sales in the CEE accounted for over 50% of all the company's office transactions in 2014.

The schemes sold included one each in Bucharest and Budapest, two in Prague and five in Poland in cities such as Krakow, Wroclaw and Lodz. For Skanska CEE is the fastest developing investment transaction market in the world.

'In 2014, investors purchased from us buildings worth a total of €330 mln. This is a very good result, accounting for over a 10% share in the overall office transaction market in the CEE. Seven new schemes will be added to the company’s sale portfolio in 2015 – in Prague, Bucharest, Krakow, Poznan and Katowice,' said Adrian Karczewicz, transaction director at Skanska CDE.

Skanska is also marketing a four-office portfolio, totalling 63,000 m2, in Poland. The assets are Kapelanka 42 A and Axis in Krakow together with Building A and B of Silesia Business Park in Katowice

Skanska CDE plans to confirm its market position by selling seven to eight new office buildings annually in the coming years.

Choice asset class
Colliers International believes that the office sector will continue to be the 'asset of choice' for the majority of investors in CEE, having accounted for 38% of all transactions in the region last year.

'A combination of robust economic growth, coupled with strong growth prospects from companies choosing CEE as a global growth platform for offshoring and outsourcing will continue to drive office demand. This, combined with strong relative pricing levels compared to other European locations, should continue to drive increased appetite for high-quality, core office assets in 2015 and beyond,' said Damian Harrington, regional director of research for Colliers International, Eastern Europe.

Skanska claims it has witnessed an increase in investor enquiries regarding office buildings developed by the company in the capitals of the Czech Republic, Romania, Hungary as well as Poland's biggest cities.