On 8-9 June at Le Meridien Bristol in Warsaw a conference took place. The "12 Polish Real Estate Market ", which included patronage of KRN.pl and e-biurowce.pl portals and a "Real Estate Market" magazine. Among the special guests were, among others, Tomasz Ciodyk, director of asset management unit of the Agricultural Property Agency, Tomasz Gondek, vice president of Wrocław Agglomeration Development Agency, and Piotr Styczeń, Secretary of State in the Ministry of Infrastructure.
How to finance investments
This question was a matter of discussion on both, the first and second day of the conference. The session was opened by Dr. Paul Grzybek, CEO CEE Property Group Ltd. with the lecture "Effective ways to finance development projects." The speaker presented the risks associated with the financing of investment and the potential for real estate funds and private loans, and mezzanine funds, as an alternative to the classical method of financing.
Legal aspects
Investments in areas with no development plans from the legal point of view were observed by Joanna Kalecińska, legal counsel, a partner at White & Case. In her lecture, she said about a new meaning of the urban planning study and about the use of national and local urban rights. Joanna Jasiewicz's lecture was also worth noticing. She talked about liability claims of investors. The speaker presented a case study of defect of issued decisions, the legal consequences and compensation claims in relation to the offices.
Where to implement investments
About how investors can benefit from the privatization carried out by the Agricultural Property Agency, said Tomasz Ciodyk, director of resource management team ANR. The moderator of the panel, Adam Polanowski, CEO of Real Estate Polanowscy, also mentioned this issue, during a lecture "The plans and timetable for the enfranchisement of state property - where and how to invest."
Revitalization projects were the subject of the second day of the meeting. The question as to whether the post-mining land can be an opportunity or a threat was asked by Rafał Kincer, CEO of Armada Development SA. He referred to the example of "Silver Ponds" - one of the largest development projects in Silesia, as a successful project using the existing infrastructure for new projects. Tomasz Gondek, vice president of Wrocław Agglomeration Development Agency SA, presented the strategy of creating development centers in Wroclaw and their impact on attracting new investment to the city.
Public-Private partnership
The biggest excitement at the conference was due to the discussion about PPP. Speakers presented the pros and cons of this investment solution, which operates in Poland recently. Bartosz Korbus of the Institute for Public-Private Partnership tried to explain the term of PPP and showed it as an element of company's development strategy, outlining the principles of co-operation with the council members and investors.
Marek Waszkowiak, deputy president of Konin, gave the example of housing that were created with the PPP solution. He also talked about the obstacles, which investors may meet, and how can they be prevented.
A lecture "How to use the public-private partnership in the implementation of commercial real estate development projects," was given by Grzegorz Rosik, director of development and PPP projects of Miastoprojekt Wroclaw Ltd. On the other hand, a critical look at the PPP was shown by Krzysztof Droń, a representative of Vamed Gruop. During the presentation, "Examples of commercial revitalization of investment projects in the PPP" he said that Poland is just implementing such measures, and existing contracts differ significantly from abroad ones. He also pointed to the importance of selecting the private partner, who should have relevant experience. It is a good partner that is the key to success - emphasized Droń.