Ghelamco has sold Warsaw Unit, largest office market transaction in Europe
Ghelamco, a leading developer in the Polish commercial real estate market, has sold its flagship development in downtown Warsaw – the Warsaw UNIT skyscraper at Rondo Daszyńskiego. It was acquired by the Swedish real estate company Eastnine AB listed on the Nasdaq Stockholm. This is the largest office market transaction that has been concluded in Europe this year.
Eastnine AB and Ghelamco announced on Tuesday that they have signed a sales agreement for the Warsaw UNIT skyscraper located in the center of Warsaw for an underlying property value of EUR 280 million, the equivalent of more than PLN 1.2 billion. This is a record transaction in the office market in 2024 not only in Poland, but also in the entire Europe. With the height of 202 meters and almost 60,000 sqm of leasable space, the office building is one of the most modern and environmentally friendly buildings of its class on the continent. The building is fully commercialized and its largest tenants include: Warta, Moderna, CBRE, Stryker, Amazon, OmniOffice and Imperial Tabacco.
“Warsaw UNIT sets the highest standards in the Polish and European office market. It is an office icon of the capital, which in terms of the quality of the working environment and sustainable solutions not only matches the best Western European developments, but in many respects surpasses them. We are very pleased that this was appreciated by our partners at Eastnine, for whom these aspects are very important when building a real estate portfolio. We congratulate them on their choice and are confident that Warsaw UNIT is in the right hands, ensuring that it will remain among the best and most prestigious office addresses in Warsaw,” says Jarosław Zagórski, Managing Director, Ghelamco Poland.
“This transaction is an important and optimistic signal for the entire real estate industry as investors have resumed purchases and do not shy away from investing in promising assets that meet strict ESG requirements. Acquiring a building in a central location characterised by strong tenant demand, a limited supply of new projects and the prospect of rising rents is a safe long-term investment,” says Rafał Gierczak, Board Member, Head of Asset Management, Ghelamco Poland.
Eastnine AB is a Swedish company listed on Nasdaq Stockholm Mid Cap, Real Estate, which focuses on modern, sustainable and high-yielding office properties in prime locations across selected markets in the Baltics and Poland.
“We are very grateful for the opportunity to acquire this gem from Ghelamco. Warsaw Unit is an iconic building and represents everything we are looking for in an investment. The vibrant location, the highest ESG standards and the multinational tenants mix fit perfectly into the Eastnine strategy. We will make sure Warsaw Unit remains among the best and most prestigious offices in the city,” says Kestutis Sasnauskas, CEO Eastnine AB.
On Ghelamco's side, among the advisors in the transaction were: Dentons, Deloitte, MDDP, Rymarz Zdort Maruta and CBRE. Signal Capital fund was the seller's pref-equity partner. The buyer, Eastnine, was advised by: Greenberg Traurig, JLL, Gleeds, Arcadis and Koda.
The ultra-modern and eco-friendly Warsaw UNIT
With nearly 60,000 sqm of office space on 46 floors, Warsaw UNIT is one of the most environmentally friendly and technologically advanced office building in Europe, perfectly reflecting Ghelamco’s ESG strategy. The building was the first in Poland to receive WELL Core v2 certification with the Platinum rating and BREEAM with the highest possible Outstanding rating for high-rise building. Its sustainability is also confirmed by certification in the WELL Health-Safety Rating, Green Building Standard and “Barrier-Free Facility” systems.
The energy-efficient and low-carbon character of Warsaw UNIT, fully powered by clean energy, is ensured daily by more than 40,000 sensors and 800 meters as part of a state-of-the-art BEMS system. Thanks to this and a number of other solutions, energy consumption in the skyscraper is nearly 30% lower than in comparable high-rise buildings. Moreover, Warsaw UNIT features a proprietary operating system developed by Ghelamco and the Signal OS team with its own application, which gives tenants and office managers many options, including active participation in the process of sustainable management of utilities.
Ghelamco’s project stands out with elegant, timeless architecture designed by the Polsko-Belgijska Pracownia Architektury PROJEKT and original solutions, such as a kinetic façade in the form of a dragon’s skin waving in the wind, or Skyfall Warsaw – an unusual event space equipped with a fully glazed sky-high observation deck with a moving platform.
ABOUT GHELAMCO POLAND
Ghelamco Poland is the leader in the Polish office market and a pioneer in the fields of ESG and innovation in real estate industry as well as in the creation of placemaking projects. In its 33 years of operations as an investor, developer and general contractor, the company has cemented its leading position by delivering over 1,200,000 sqm of office, residential, retail and warehouse space of the highest standard and the total volume for its sales of completed development projects comes to more than EUR 1.3 billion. The company is part of the Ghelamco group, one of the largest international developers in Europe with operations in Belgium, the United Kingdom and Cyprus. In Poland, Ghelamco has completed developments in such cities as Warsaw, Kraków, Katowice, Łódź and Wrocław.
For many years, Ghelamco has consistently set the trend for the development of the real estate market in Poland. It was the first developer in Poland to have office developments accredited under the prestigious BREEAM certification system (2010) as well as under SmartScore and WiredScore (2022). It was also the first company to discover the office potential of Warsaw’s Wola district. The company’s flagship developments, which include Warsaw Spire, The Warsaw HUB and Warsaw UNIT, have brought a new standard of quality to the Polish office market while shaping the city’s current skyline. The company is also active in the luxury and residential real estate market with the Foksal 13/15 development in Warsaw being a particularly spectacular example of such a project.
As the industry leader in the field of ESG, Ghelamco is targeting energy neutrality by 2025. In order to help achieve this goal, it has inaugurated a programme to build solar energy farms and powers its new projects exclusively with clean energy. Ghelamco takes a broad view on sustainable construction and actively works to shape urban space. The construction of Plac Europejski in Warsaw and the establishment of the Art in the City Foundation, which is dedicated to raising the standard of the public space in Polish cities, stand out as flagship examples of such activities.
