|
EBRD to finance new office development in Warsaw
Warsaw's acute shortage of modern office space will be eased by a US$23.5 million financing package arranged by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the Polish Development Bank (PDB). The money will be utilised by Business Center Wola Sp. z o.o. (BCW), a Polish limited liability company, to construct the 20,000 gross square metre Atrium Business Centre, the first phase of a proposed four phase office and mixed-use development on al. Jana Pawla II in Warsaw's Wola district. The total cost of this first phase is expected to be US$35.5 million.
Senior loans totalling US$21 million will be funded by a PDB-led syndicate of Polish banks (US$9 million), EBRD (US$7 million) and Swedish Export Credit Corporation (US$5 million). Subordinated loans totalling US$2.5 million will be provided by EBRD and the project's sponsor, Skanska International Building AB of Sweden.
The senior and subordinated loans mark the EBRD's first loans in the property sector, as well as the first long-term loan in Poland from Swedish Export Credit (SEK) since 1986. SEK's participation in the lending syndicate was facilitated by a guarantee from the Swedish Export Credits Guarantee Board (EKN).
Marek Andruk, Interim President of Warsaw for the Central District, spoke enthusiastically of Wola's participation in the BCW joint venture, noting that "this investment has a significance that goes beyond the Atrium project itself. For the first time in Poland, a real estate investment on this scale has been structured in the form of a joint venture between a Gmina [local district authority] and a foreign developer. If this precedent is successful, it will encourage similar joint ventures with other Gminas and more foreign investment as a whole."
Guy de Selliers, Deputy Vice President of the EBRD, echoed Mayor Andruk's comments, explaining that "modern business facilities such as the Atrium Business Centre are an important element of the commercial infrastructure needed to support any competitive, market-oriented economy. In the Bank's countries of operation, public-private partnerships such as this will undoubtedly be a key vehicle for developing that infrastructure."
Lars Horneij, Marketing Director of SEK, noted the particular significance of the Atrium project for Swedish investment in Poland. "Sweden and Poland historically have been important trading partners. The ability of SEK to provide long-term financing to Swedish companies in Poland will strengthen that link, to the benefit of both countries. We and EKN appreciate the role played by the EBRD in facilitating this financing, and look forward to cooperating with the Bank on other projects."
The Atrium Business Centre is already under construction, with delivery scheduled for the second quarter of 1995. The project marks a return to Poland for Skanska, which constructed the Forum, Solec and Victoria Intercontinental Hotels in Warsaw in the 1970's. Skanska also constructed the well-known East West Business Centre in Budapest, completed in 1992.
|
