AFI Europe, a real estate development and investment company, has signed a preliminary agreement with controlled affiliates of US investment firm Starwood Capital Group to acquire Marynarska 12 office building, which is located in Warsaw’s Mokotów district. The vendor was represented by global real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield, which is also the property manager for the building.
Marynarska 12 office building is a modern office building with an area of over 43,000 sqm in the heart of the business hub of Warsaw’s Mokotów district. The property is leased to a leading international telecommunication company and one of the world’s largest banks. It offers more than 40,000 sq m of class A office space and 507 sqm of retail and service space spread over its eight floors. The property is an example of an interesting integration of business culture, elegance and the highest standards in-office solutions. The building has been awarded an “Excellent” rating in the BREEAM certification system.
The vendor was advised by Soren Rodian Olsen and Marcin Kocerba from the Capital Markets team of Cushman & Wakefield.
“Once completed the sale of Marynarska 12 is likely to mark the largest office real estate transaction in Warsaw in 2020. The agreement signed demonstrates the continued attractiveness of the Polish office market for investors. We are proud to have advised the vendor on this transaction, which was also AFI Europe’s first acquisition of a Class A office building in Poland,” comments Marcin Kocerba, Associate, Capital Markets, Cushman & Wakefield.
Cushman & Wakefield, now acting as a property manager on behalf of the owner, previously represented two anchor tenants in the building.
“Everything we deliver for Marynarska 12 is an example of seamless cooperation of various teams within Cushman & Wakefield. In this case, the teams involved were Capital Markets, Office Agency and Asset Services. Not only do we operate specific business lines, but we also seek to implement a project-based approach to delivering comprehensive investment product services,” says Krzysztof Misiak, Head of Cushman & Wakefield Poland.
“The acquisition of Marynarska 12 office park is a milestone to strengthen AFI Europe position in Poland. We believe in modern assets with strong covenants. Currently, AFI Europe is working on further transactions in CEE with a strong focus on Warsaw office and PRS market’” says Michał Stępień, CEO of AFI Europe Warsaw activities.
“AFI Europe for a long time was considered as a development company, however, this has changed and the recent transactions in Romania – €290 million office portfolio acquisition from NEPI Rockcastle and approximately €100 million Marynarska 12 office park from controlled affiliates of Starwood Capital Group is the beginning of new investment strategy of the group in the area of office and rental apartments market,” says Sebastian Kieć, CEO of AFI Europe Poland.
