The Westin Hotel in downtown Warsaw filled with many of the stars of the Polish development sector to enjoy an evening filled with food, entertainment and prize giving at the CIJ Awards 2014. This came at the end of one of the most encouraging 12 months the industry has seen since the crisis, resulting in a high number of quality projects being nominated. HB Reavis Poland, a relative newcomer to Poland’s development sector, got the evening going by picking up its first-ever Polish triumph, winning the Office Development of the Year prize for Gdański Business Center I, in Warsaw’s Muranów district.
Overall victory in this sector for the company’s contributions and achievements during 2014 went to Skanska Property Poland, which won Office Developer of the Year. This would be prove to be a sign of things to come for the evening for the company. The Office Lease of the Year prize was given in recognition of the deal for Prime Corporate Center – Golub GetHouse, brokered by exclusive leasing agents Savills. Finally, for this prestigious sector, the Office Investment Transaction of the Year honors went for the sale of Rondo 1 by BlackRock to Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management a deal brokered by CBRE.
Remarkably, after so many years of intensive construction, Poland’s retail sector continues to produce many new projects of investment grade. Competition for the prize for Retail Development of the Year was tight this time, but judges and on-line voters chose Atrium Felicity in the end, a project by Atrium European Real Estate. The company didn’t have long to wait for the next prize, in fact, as it was also judged to have been the Retail Developer of the Year. The Retail Lease of the Year went to Cushman & Wakefield for its TK Maxx deals totaling 9866sq m. Finally, the Retail Investment Transaction of the year was awarded in recognition of the deal done for Poznań City Centre by CBRE.
In a year when the industrial sector amazed property professionals with staggering levels of take-up, new building and investment, this sector’s prizes were always going to be hard fought. However, the chief honors were dominated by a single company as Panattoni Europe who not only managed to pick up the Industrial/Warehouse Developer of the Year prize, but also for its project BTS Amazon Poznań, which won the Industrial/Warehouse Development of the Year. The deal for this same scheme brought it victory in the Industrial/Warehouse Lease of the Year, which was of little surprise, considering the size and prominence of the tenant. Finally, Panattoni was called to the stage in connection with the Industrial/Warehouse Investment Transaction of the Year for Pramerica & Panattoni portfolio + Stolica Business Center a deal brokered by Cushman & Wakefield.
In the residential category, Echo Investment was the chief recipient of prizes and applause, winning the Residential Affordable Development of the Year award for its project Nowy Mokotów. The judges and voters this year also determined that Echo Investment was to be named 2014’s Residential Developer of the Year. The Residential Luxury Development of the Year went to Marvipol for its project Hill Park Apartments. Echo Investment would come to the stage one last time to collect the first-ever Land Investment Transaction of the Year a plot of approx. 4.4h located in the centre of Warsaw,.
Panattoni Europe had two final triumphs, which the developer began by winning the Marketing Team of the Year award, while Skanska Property Poland went home with the Sales Team of the Year honors. No stranger to the stage by this point, Robert Dobrzycki of Panattoni Europe was called up one last time to accept the Leadership of the Year award. Finally, the Capital Markets Team of the Year in what was a busy year of investment transactions was judged to belong to JLL. Local Real Estate Agency of the Year, the final prize for the evening went to Axi Immo Group.
