Skanska, the international construction and property development group, has sold its Green2Day office building in the the western Polish city of Wroclaw for €51 mln. 

green2day wroclaw

Green2day Wroclaw

The transaction was an all-Swedish affair as the buyer was Niam, a Stockholm-based real estate fund manager. Skanska is also a Swedish company, though its commercial office development business has deep roots in Central and Eastern Europe. 

Green2Day is Skanska's fifth office project in the city, with the sixth, Nowy Targ, currently under construction. Niam, meanwhile, is a frequent buyer of Skanska's projects, both in their native Sweden and in Poland. In early March this year Niam acquired Skanska's Nowa Fabryczna office building in Lodz, central Poland, for €52 mln.

'We enjoy a good business relationship with Niam illustrated by the trust the company puts in Skanska's products. This is the fifth Skanska project we have divested in Wroclaw. In previous years players such as Union Investment, GLL, RREEF and PZU have appreciated the potential of the Wroclaw office market by selecting our buildings,' said Adrian Karczewicz, head of divestments at Skanska’s commercial development business in CEE.

Development drive
Skanska has been steadily building its presence in Warsaw and the six main Polish regional markets. Today with the Polish real estate market being on the global investor’s radar, the developer is ready to provide a diversified offering to suit investors' preferences and market strategies.

'In the last decade, the Central Eastern European market has seen increasing investor interest in office projects. A large pool of well-educated people speaking a wide range of foreign languages, and good market conditions are driving the leasing market,' said Katarzyna Zawodna-Bijoch, president and CEO of Skanska’s commercial development unit in CEE.

'The CEE recipe for solid investment products is simple: prestigious tenants and high-quality certified buildings. Buyers such as Niam, who come back to us seeking new additions to their portfolio, confirm that CEE assets are very competitive and often yield better returns than those in Western Europe,' Zawodna-Bijoch added.

Green2Day, Wroclaw
Green2Day in Wroclaw was completed in the fourth quarter of 2017 and offers 18,000 m2 of GLA. The space is leased to a number of companies, including Ultimo, Tieto and KPMG. Due to the addition of  Business Link – the largest network of flexible office space in Poland – the building also offers co-working and short-term lease solutions.

The building is located close to Wroclaw's main communication hub – Reagan Roundabout. The communal spaces in front of the building's entrances transition into a new pedestrian footpath along the Odra River.

The Green2Day project is expected to receive LEED Gold certification. It will also be certified as a Building without Barriers for its accessible design and inclusiveness for people with disabilities.

During the sales process, Colliers together with Cushman & Wakefield acted as the exclusive agent for Skanska. Legal advisers for the transaction were Linklaters for the purchaser and Dentons for the vendor.