A new study by the consultancy DBK has revealed that Spain is the biggest home builder in the European Union by a wide margin. Of the 2.7m new homes completed in the EU in 2006, 675,000 of them were located in Spain.
This means that Spain built roughly 25% of all the new homes in the EU in 2006, despite having only 9% of the EU’s population, and 8.5% of the Union’s GDP.
It is estimated that around 588,000 new homes were built in Spain in 2007, still well above average despite an oversupply of properties on the market to be sold in most areas.
Plans for Europe’s highest building in centre of Warsaw
Warsaw could boast the tallest building in Continental Europe by 2011. A company belonging to the group owned by Jan Kulczyk wants to erect a 280-metre high skyscraper at an estimated cost of a billion zloty (€278m). Close to 10% of this figure will be covered by the investor, Chmielna Development, and the remaining sum will be financed by a consortium of banks.
The building will be 68 storeys high and will consist of an office section and around 300 luxury flats. There will be a total of almost 110,000sqm of floor space.
The market for residential space in skyscrapers is still in its infancy in Poland and not one project has yet been completed. However, a number of investments are currently in progress, including Zlota 44 and Platinum Towers in Warsaw, Sea Towers in Gdynia and Sky Tower in Wroclaw.
The price for these luxury flats range from €4,800-11,200sqm. However, this has not discouraged potential buyers, who include individual clients, property investors and institutions.
The Warsaw skyscraper, construction of which is expected to commence in 2009, may eventually be the tallest building on the continent, replacing the current record holder Commerzbank Tower in Frankfurt, which is 258.7m. However, the 306m high ‘Shard of Glass’ tower in London is also expected to be ready in 2011.
New centre planned for Ljubljana, Slovenia
TriGranit and Slovenian Railways have signed a joint-venture agreement to construct the ‘Emonika City Centre’ in the heart of Ljubljana. Emonika will provide the Slovenian capital with new public transport infrastructure and will spread across 213,885sqm. It will also include a landmark office tower, a shopping and entertainment centre, a high quality hotel and luxury residential apartments.
It is hoped that once completed, Emonika will be best place to meet, live, work and be entertained in Ljubljana. The development will become an urban connection between two parts of the city that have been divided by a railway for over a century. The heart of the city will therefore be revitalized.
“Emonika will push Ljubljana one step closer to become one of the European capitals and present Slovenia in a way that this beautiful country deserves”, said CEO of TriGranit Lorant Varga at the signing of the Joint Venture Agreement.
TriGranit and the Slovenian Railways are preparing a launch of the project in Ljubljana, where architectural features of Emonika will be presented along with a detailed time span for its construction.
Over €1.8bn to be invested in Polish airports by 2013
Optimistic forecasts for the aviation sector in Poland and the fact that the country is co-hosting the 2012 European Championships is expected to drive investment in Polish airports to Zloty 7bn (€1.8bn) by 2013, according to consulting company PMR.
In its recent report ‘Airport construction in Poland 2007 – Development forecasts for 2008-2013’, it stated that regional airports are expected to continue to grow faster than Warsaw airport and one-third of total investment will go on improving or completely re-building those airports. The largest projects are all planned for the Euro 2012 host cities.
In 2007, more than 19m passengers flew in and out of Poland. An analysis of the increase in passenger numbers shows that the fastest growth rates are recorded by leading regional airports – Wroclaw, Gdansk, Krakow and Katowice.
Last year was also the first year that less than a half of all airport passengers in Poland were flown from Warsaw-Okecie airport. The reasons are two-fold: extremely rapid development of low cost carriers at regional airports and insufficient capacity of Okecie.
Construction of the second terminal at Warsaw, which would help solve the problem, has been dragging on for several years now. The report estimates that in the coming years the regional airports will continue to outperform Okecie in terms of passenger numbers, ultimately handling nearly two-thirds of all passenger traffic by 2020.
In total, around 25 new terminals will be constructed over the next six years.
Worldwide News
Record commercial investment continues in Taiwan
Taiwan commercial property market transactions should again surpass T$100bn (£1.55bn) this year, according to a report by property consultants Savills ( Taiwan) Ltd.
The Taiwanese property market set a record last year with transactions of T$119bn, some 2.83 times higher than in 2006.
‘Any closer cross-strait political/economic ties (with China) after Taiwan’s presidential election (on 22 March) will be crucial to the chances for the market to set a new record again on the island this year’, Savills said.
Both domestic and international real estate funds are continuing to invest in Asia but Taiwan is now facing stiffer competition from other emerging markets, such as Vietnam, the company added.
Foreign funds were responsible for 40.5% of total investment in Taiwan’s commercial property market last year.
Health Island to be built in Bahrain
Bahrain’s Ithmaar Bank has announced the planned development of a $1.6bn island for the healthcare industry dubbed ‘ Health Island’. Construction is expected to start this year on the island which will have medical facilities, hotels and apartment buildings and will be located off the north coast of Bahrain near Muharraq, on reclaimed land.
Investors are eyeing the Gulf’s healthcare industry as the region’s population booms, and the government becomes less willing to provide the free healthcare it has in the past. Ithmaar is also working on a $1.2bn beach resort and a $175m hotel, both in Bahrain.
Health Island is expected to make a significant contribution to the local economy. The development could revolutionize the country’s healthcare system and help turn it into a regional hub for health tourism. Construction on the project is expected to take 3-5 years. People will be able to live there full time in apartments or villas with 24-hour-a-day access to medical care.
The island will be divided into clusters similar to the Palms, although each cluster will focus on a different healthcare aspect. It will include a diagnostic centre, an aesthetic surgery centre, a sports medicine centre, alternative medicine centres, a nutrition and diabetes centre, and a women and children’s centre, as well as deluxe spas, three five-star boutique hotels and luxury residences. Half of the development, including the island’s beaches and businesses, will be open to the public, while the rest will be within gated communities.
Three five-star hotels are planned, with French, Thai and Chinese themes, each with 60 to 70 villas and suites, along with a Middle Eastern and Turkish inspired four-star hotel of 110 rooms. Amenities will include two-storey to four-storey buildings for supermarkets, commercial and retail outlets, cinemas, arcade and waterfront restaurants.
Singaporean company, DP Architects, responsible for the Dubai Mall and Dubai Marina Mall and Hotel along with several other major medical facilities, has designed the master plan, which will cover 1.25m sqm.
Commercial property to outperform residential in Panama
Commercial, rather than residential, property is now expected to be the better performer in Panama this year, according to local estate agents. Panama’s residential real estate market - until recently seen as one of the hottest in Latin America - is starting to cool down, thanks to oversupply, rising prices, a new and controversial visa law and the US sub-prime crisis, experts say.
However, the commercial real estate sector is likely to see solid growth, thanks to the $5.2bn expansion of the Panama Canal and the growing number of multinationals that are setting up offices or manufacturing facilities there.
“There’s a lot of residential product that needs to be sold”, said Shannon Robertson, managing director of the Latin America operations for Jones Lang LaSalle. She added: “We expect prices to correct or developers to hold on to their products. There’s no question that from a residential market view, Panama City got overbuilt very quickly. It became the flavor of the day.”
Paul McBride, CEO of real estate consulting firm Prima Panama, agreed. He reportedly said: “Oversupply in Panama City will begin to become a problem in the next 12 to 18 months. Increasing prices in the residential sector along with a tightening international credit market will likely slow demand.”
Fitch tips Mexican industrial property
Mexico ’s industrial real estate sector has a solid outlook, according to Fitch Ratings recent report. It said that the Mexican industrial real estate market is expected to increase thanks to the expansion of existing automobile manufacturing plants and growth of key sectors such as aerospace, medical and electrical appliances.
The agency reportedly said: ‘The near-term outlook for the CRE (Commercial Real Estate) industrial market in Mexico is positive. The industrial market is nearing its mature stage; new construction is almost always rapidly absorbed while general vacancy and lease rates have remained stable over the past five years. At the same time, the Mexican government is striving to attract top international corporations and aims to replace some of the industrial business that has left for Asia and Eastern Europe.’
