Pbb backs Warsaw mall with €63m loan

Pbb Deutsche Pfandbriefbank has provided a €63 million loan to CBRE Global Investors to refinance the Wars Sawa Junior retail centre in Warsaw.

The seven-year facility has been secured by CBRE Property Fund Central and Eastern Europe (CBRE PFCEE), which invests in retail assets in Poland and Slovakia. Pbb acted as arranger and sole lender in the transaction that closed in August.

Wars Sawa Junior is in the city centre of Warsaw opposite of the Palace of Culture. Built between 1969 and 1970, it was the first department store to open in the city and was later converted into a shopping centre.

The asset offers a gross lettable area of more than 37,000 square metres in retail and office space. It is currently almost fully let to a mix of international and national tenants.

“The deal underlines our continued strong interest in the CEE real estate markets,” said Charles Balch, head of international clients, UK & CEE at pbb.
Thomas Koentgen, deputy CEO at pbb, told Real Estate Capital that financing shopping centres has “no particular pricing advantage”.

“A significant benefit from a lenders’ perspective is the granularity of the cash flow, due to the higher number of tenants and diversity of customers,” Koentgen said.

“We are very selective when it comes to shopping centre developments. We do lend against established shopping centres where we expect a sustainable development,” he added.