Newmark, one of the world’s largest commercial real estate advisory firms, has allied with a Polish firm. It is a once-in-a-decade event, to say the least, comments Piotr Kaszyński, Managing Partner, Newmark Polska.
The team of Cresa Polska experts has recently announced its rebrand with global leader Newmark. What were the reasons for your decision?
Piotr Kaszyński, Managing Partner, Newmark Polska: Beginning January 1, 2022, our team commenced operations as Newmark Polska through our agreement with Newmark. Newmark is global, and a very competitive platform, based in the US, and the company is rapidly expanding its presence here in Europe. Our collaboration with Newmark represents substantial opportunity for our team to expand our service capabilities and serve more clients. The market does not stand still – it is hungry for new relationships and a fresh insight. This is what we intend to offer.
Why did Newmark choose your team for its flag in Poland?
Through our initial conversations, Newmark identified us as an experienced, profitable and well-established business. Our group is composed of professionals who have demonstrated resiliency, unrivalled professionalism and management skills, who have worked on some of the market’s most significant projects. For instance, we assisted Primark in its entry into the Polish retail market; we advised on the largest office transactions, acting as advisors, among others, to mBank and Allegro; we also represented TJX Europe (TK Maxx) in its acquisition of the largest distribution center in continental Europe; we represented Accor in its acquisition of a building in Wrocław for the Mövenpick brand. Newmark Polska will build on these successes and the new agreement provides great opportunities to both parties. I am confident that together we will offer a superior quality for commercial real estate services throughout the region’s property market.
How will your partnership with Newmark affect your Polish business?
We will continue to do what we excel at – we are strengthening our core capabilities in advising tenants on the office, industrial and warehouse markets. We also want to develop and broaden our services and business in such areas as capital markets, valuation, market research and advisory. We will also shift our focus to regional cities where we are looking to fortify our presence and grow our advisory teams. We currently have teams in Krakow, Tricity and Wrocław, the three top regional property markets in Poland, in addition to our presence in Warsaw.
How will Newmark Polska clients benefit from your new partnership?
Our agreement with Newmark has provided us with enhanced infrastructure, technologies and product offerings that will allow us to better serve our clients’ needs. Newmark serves some of the world’s largest corporations, particularly as a leading advisor in international capital markets. The platform’s strong network of offices will equip our advisors and clients with even greater access to global businesses and investors.
Do you want to increase your headcount at Newmark Polska to accommodate your ambitious plans to strengthen your key teams and expand your service offerings?
Yes, we do. We are planning to double the number of advisors in Poland this and the following year. We want to use the months ahead to conduct a series of job interviews. We will focus on strengthening the teams I’ve talked about and on expanding our capital markets team, which will be a major priority for us.
What kind of employer is Newmark Polska?
First of all, we are a stable organization with great plans to further develop our business and employees. We are unique in the market in that we do not have complex corporate structures. Our management board is engaged in most advisory mandates, so we are able to make decisions quickly and secure favorable contracts. We avoid protracted processes and do not lock ourselves up in our offices. We work together to achieve success. Our employees also value our corporate culture, which promotes work-life balance and is built on mutual understanding, trust and empathy.
What challenges lie ahead for office tenants in 2022?
More and more people want to go back to the office, working creatively and innovatively in groups, and sharing knowledge. They want to go out, enjoy a social life and forge new connections. The young say they stand no chance of breaking through. That’s why today there are two key challenges ahead for the office market: costs as well as cultural and business factors. After two years of uncertainty, sudden decisions, and restrictions being introduced and lifted, companies do not know how much space they actually need. That’s why the next five to seven years will be a time of exploring various options. When the Covid-19 pandemic was declared, videoconferencing was adopted very quickly on a massive scale, which significantly brought down costs, including business trip expenses. This has also impacted the size of leased space. This year will see the start of processes that will culminate in decisions defining the size of offices and growth opportunities – that is tailoring the office to individual requirements. Most companies in Poland, however, are growing, which bodes well for the future.
Rising construction costs are, however, another challenge, aren’t they?
Yes, they are. Office construction costs have skyrocketed compared to where they were two years ago, but rents are holding firm due to rental pressure. As a result, only very few large-scale developers will have the resources to deliver office buildings. An undersupply is expected in Warsaw in 2023-2024 as the city’s development pipeline is very limited and office buildings that were recently completed have been largely leased out. The anticipated dearth of high-quality offices for large tenants may be a source of concern.
The situation in the Polish industrial and warehouse market is completely different. There is a growing number of developers keen to invest.
The Polish warehouse market is cementing its strong position in Europe. It is seeing high levels of interest from both occupiers and investors. Many companies, particularly e-commerce operators, have decided to expand their warehousing capabilities. To be competitive today, you need to have the relevant product and be able to deliver it to the consumer quickly. Having learned the lesson from recent disruptions to global supply chains caused by the pandemic, companies are scaling up their production and warehousing capacity across Europe. Poland is clearly benefiting from this. We are still very competitive in Europe, with relatively affordable land compared to the West, reasonable construction costs and motivated workers.
The retail market continues to face the biggest challenges, doesn’t it?
Yes, and specifically secondary retail properties in smaller cities. Traditional retail is demanding and very capital-intensive today. It requires a large and high-quality offer which smaller shopping malls may find very difficult to provide. And on top of that, they will face rental pressure from retailers expanding their e-commerce operations. I have confidence in large retail schemes. Few tenants will decide to vacate premises in top shopping malls. Retail parks which have proved very successful will be doing equally well or even better in some cases. They are experiencing robust levels of demand from occupiers who, despite weaker turnover figures, are able to achieve increased profitability in retail parks compared to shopping malls thanks to significantly lower store maintenance costs. The popularity of retail parks continues to gain momentum as we live hectic lives and have no time to spare for large shopping malls. Meanwhile, local convenience retail parks provide easy access to stores for quick shopping and a customized offer.
Piotr Kaszyński, FRICS, is Managing Partner of Newmark Polska. Kaszyński has over 25 years of experience in the real estate market and leads a 45-person team, combining resources, technology and product offerings to support the evolving needs of a growing roster of clients in Central and Eastern Europe. Kaszyński led the Poland company’s strategic alliance with Newmark, to operate as, and rebrand to, Newmark Polska in January 2022. Newmark Polska is based in Warsaw with regional teams in Wrocław, Tricity and Krakow. Previously, Kaszyński was the Managing Partner at Cresa Poland, which he successfully established and led for more than 4 years. Kaszyński also worked for Cushman & Wakefield, where he was an Equity Partner, Head of the Retail Department and Head of Capital Markets in Poland. Kaszyński led development consultancy and space leasing in over 60 prominent retail properties in Poland winning many prestigious awards. He led the investment transactions in excess of EUR 600 million. Kaszyński graduated from Florida Atlantic University.
About Newmark Polska
Newmark Polska, a Newmark Global Partner, is a member of the Newmark Global Network. As one of Poland’s premier integrated commercial real estate services companies, the group provides conflict-free tenant representation, in addition to capital markets, market research and advisory, valuation, design and project management and workplace strategy services. Newmark Polska is led by Piotr Kaszyński, based in Warsaw, with additional offices in Wroclaw, Tricity and Krakow. The team leverages Newmark’s (Nasdaq: NMRK) global platform, which offers a comprehensive suite of services that seamlessly powers every phase of the property life cycle from offices around the world. To learn more about Newmark Polska, visit www.nmrk.pl.
