Building behind the loan: Warsaw’s Varso Place

In February, developer HB Reavis secured what it described as the largest non-portfolio loan in the history of the Polish commercial real estate market and one of the biggest in Central and Eastern Europe.

€475m

Refinancing of Varso Place by four banks

The Luxembourg-headquartered firm received a €475 million refinancing package from four banks – the Polish arm of Spain’s Santander, Poland’s Bank Pekao, and Germany’s Helaba and Berlin Hyp – for the Varso Place complex in Warsaw.

Located next to Warsaw Central Station in the city’s Wola district, the mixed-use scheme comprises three buildings – Varso 1, Varso 2 and Varso Tower. The scheme, which completed in 2022 with the delivery of the tower, boasts a BREEAM ‘Outstanding’ certification, as well as a WELL Gold standard.

1.6m

Square feet of office, hotel, ‘innovation’ and retail space across Varso Place’s three buildings

At 310 metres, Varso Tower stands as the tallest building in the European Union and the sixth-tallest building in Europe overall. In total, Varso Place’s three buildings contain 1.6 million square feet of leasable space, including offices, a hotel, an ‘innovation hub’ and retail units.

The site on which it was built had a turbulent history in the 20th century. Its proximity to the railway was to its detriment during the Second World War. The area where Varso Place now sits was destroyed in air raids in 1939, the Warsaw Uprising and arson attacks by the Nazis.

310

Height in metres of Varso Tower, the EU’s tallest building

In the post-war decades, the area was part of the city’s so-called ‘Wild West’ – a ruined part of the Polish capital. HB Reavis bought the land from Polish State Railways in 2011. It began construction on the tower, which was designed by London-based architectural firm Foster + Partners, in 2016. In 2019, the developer reported securing a €350 million construction loan for the three buildings from Santander Bank Polska, Bank Pekao, Helaba and UniCredit.

From being a desolate corner of the Polish capital for many years, Varso Place now stands tall on the Warsaw skyline.