Poland Property Investment News

Workers return to Poland's expanding cities

Poland’s economic growth is entering a new era – reflected in the migration of Polish workers back into the country – and as public and private investment goes into meeting the growing demand a number of large-scale real estate and infrastructural projects have been announced. Real estate investment in Poland continues to be largely centred on providing residential, retail and office properties for the burgeoning working population.

Recent reports in the UK press are that the tide of Polish workers moving to the UK is beginning to turn. Poles comprise two-thirds of immigrants into the UK, but it appears that many who had moved over since the country joined the EU in 2004 are returning to Poland to take advantage of employment opportunities and higher wages.

The Polish city of Warsaw has been tipped as one of the top markets to watch for its development prospects by the ‘Emerging Trends in Real Estate Europe 2008’ report (published by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Urban Land Institute).

Meanwhile in recent weeks Krakow has been announced as the site of two large-scale investments. The Bonarka City Center is planned to be a multi-functional retail centre, costing around €500 million and incorporating retail, service, entertainment, office and residential space. It is expected to create around 3,000 new jobs. Also in Krakow, the developer Echo Investment is planning an office complex with in excess of 50,000 square metres of leasable space, on the 3.5 hectare plot it has recently bought. The company plans 43 new projects between 2007 – 2013.

The country’s infrastructure is also undergoing improvements. According to Poland’s infrastructure minister, Cezary Grabarczyk, 900km of motorway and over 2,100km of express roads will be built by 2012. As well as linking the cities that are to host the Euro 2012 games, improvement to transport links makes real estate in different areas of the country a more accessible option for investors.