EY, Nokia, Philips, HCL, McKinsey, Deloitte, Apsys, Epam are among the companies that last year decided to choose Echo Investment’s office buildings for their headquarters. The developer signed 75 lease agreement for the total area of over 100,000 sq.m. Six other buildings, also with the total area of over 100,000 sq.m., are currently under construction and all of them have already secured the final buyers.
As early as in 2015 the office leasing department leased over 50,000 sq.m. However, in 2016 the company"s expansion accelerated and since then the annual lease is at about 100,000 sq.m. Fast growing BPO/SSC sector is the driving force behind the office sector in Poland. “Poland has become a supplier of much more advanced services than call centers that were emerging more than 10 years ago. Our customers now are companies from R&D and IT sectors, as well as modern technologies. Gdańsk-based Tryton Business House is a good example of a project that succeeded to accumulate the biggest number of new tech companies. During last year alone, the lease agreements were signed by such companies as Ciklum, IT Kontrakt, and Networked Energy Services,” says Rafał Mazurczak, Echo Investment"s management board member supervising office department. The company closed last year by selling Nobilis office building in Wrocław to Catalyst fund and the second stage of O3 Business Campus in Cracow to EPP. Currently, Echo has six buildings under construction and each of them has already secured the final buyer. These are Wrocław-based Sagittarius (the company has a preliminary sale agreement with Warburg HIH Invest funds) and West Link (to be sold to Griffin Premium RE..) as well as Cracow-based O3 Business Campus III and Łódź-based Symetris II (with preliminary agreements with EPP). The list also includes Browary J and Beethovena I in Warsaw, with Griffin Premium RE.. holding the rights of the first offer. „Thanks to broad experience and hard work of our team, Echo enjoys its business partners" trust. Companies that invest in office buildings have confidence in Echo and are ready to close agreements as early as a development stage, in order to secure good properties as early as possible,” adds Mazurczak. “Fast sale of completed projects is a part of our profitable growth strategy”. Echo is the only real estate developer in Poland with expertise and competencies needed to implement and lease offices, retail, hotel and residential properties. It unites all the competencies in large, development projects like Browary Warszawskie, which is to be an open urban neighborhood where people will be able to live, work, entertain, meet friends or shop. This unique ability is highly valued by our tenants. The construction of the first office building in Browary Warszawskie started in the middle of the last year. At the moment, the property is half-leased and negotiations regarding the other part are well-advanced. This encourages Echo to invest into other large, urban projects, like Beethovena, Taśmowa and Towarowa 22 in Warsaw; Tymienieckiego in Łódź, with its fantastic, post-industrial, brick buildings as well as Wita Stwosza in Cracow.