Irish Private Clients Group Sells Polish Retail Centre

Jason Corcoran

30 July 2007

Irish Investment group Quinlan Private and Norwegian conglomerate Borgestad have sold a new shopping centre they co-developed in southern Poland for €128 million. The actual profit on the sale of the Forum centre to German investment company Deka Immobilien was not disclosed although the developers said a year ago that the construction in Gliwice would cost €47 million. Open since last month, the shopping centre was developed for Quinlan Private and Borgestad by a Quinlan joint venture with real estate firm Golub and Danish developer Braaten & Pedersen. Deka Immobilien has retained Quinlan, which manages properties in central and eastern Europe, to run the centre. Peter Donnelly, Quinlan Private Partner, said in a statement: "ForumGliwice has an unrivalled tenant list and we have, in a short time, successfully developed and disposed of the property delivering a very attractive return for our investor group." The development in the Upper Silesia region of Poland is more than 90 per cent leased, with the remaining space at an advanced stage of lease negotiation. Retail tenants include international retailers such as H&M, New Yorker, Benetton and Inditex, the Spanish owner of fashion brands Zara, Pull & Bear and Bershka. The centre comprises approximately 43,000 square metres of retail space divided into 132 units and 1,000 car parking spaces. It includes a 6,500 square metre Carrefour hypermarket and the first 15-screen multiscreen cinema in Gliwice.