You are in real estate and whatever your involvement, whether as a developer, investor, asset manager, landlord, tenant, professional adviser, contractor, or in-house manger with responsibility for real estate, you have come to the right place.

Our Commercial Real Estate and Construction practice provides a real estate service which ranges from specific real property and property related transactions to the real property issues which arise in the course of other transactions. It ranks with Corporate and Commercial as one of the firm’s main practice areas and is an area for which the firm enjoys a particularly good reputation.

We advise on every aspect of real estate transactions from site due diligence and acquisition, through development and construction, to leasing and disposal. In addition, our work includes financing the project, debt restructuring and portfolio acquisition and disposal.

Our real estate clients include developers, investment funds, end-users and contractors as well as professional firms including engineers, project managers, and international real estate advisory firms. We also represent tenants and landlords in lease negotiations.

Construction

We advise on the whole range of issues related to construction in Poland:

• negotiating and drafting the construction contract, including the use of international standards from FIDIC
• warranties - statutory and contractual
• the legal relationship between the client, the general contractor and the sub-contractor
• client payment guarantees to contractors
• dispute resolution mechanisms
• adapting FIDIC to the local legal environment

Development

Development covers the whole process from site acquisition to completed construction and we advise on the key stages:

• site acquisition including preliminary and final purchase agreements and
• issues arising from purchase from public bodies including pre-emptive rights
• zoning and permitting including specific constraints faced by certain types of development
• land sub-division
• environmental issues
• change of design or use
• permit for use

Due diligence

The starting point for any successful development is establishing a sound title and there is no substitute for thorough due diligence:

• investigation of title – what is the form of legal title: ownership, perpetual usufruct, other
• examining the land title and mortgage register (księga wieczysta) maintained by the courts and the land register (ewidencja gruntów i budynków) maintained by local government bodies
• restitution claims – are there any claims arising out of the nationalization of land by the communists after the Second Word War.

Financing

We are able to advise on the full range of real estate financing options:

• equity and in-kind contributions of land to joint venture schemes
• SPV structuring
• loans to finance construction, investment loans
• re-financing of an existing development (including acquisition)
• convertible facilities
• advice on mortgages and security interests
• submission to execution, assignment and other collateral

Leasing

Any development must generate a return on investment and the firm has extensive experience of leasing and related issues:

• drafting and negotiation of leases
• lease extensions, assignments and sub-lettings
• management of the real estate
• enforcement action by landlords
• change of ownership and bankruptcy issues

Sale and Acquisition

Whether a developer is selling a completed development or an investor is adjusting its portfolio, the firm is able to help:

• sale of the asset or the sale of shares in the SPV holding the asset
• sale of part of a building
• structuring sale and acquisition transactions
• drafting preliminary and final agreements, including warranties
• financing issues
• registration of changes to title and security interests