Square Deals: Land acquisition trends in Central & Eastern Europe, InterContinental Warsaw Hotel

10.00-14.30, 20th February 2007 (event completed)

Conference Speakers

David Dixon, Senior Partner, Chadbourne Parke (moderator)
Simon Bayley, Chief Development Officer, TriGranit Development Corporation
Karim Habra, Managing Director C&EE, GE Real Estate
Doug Hardman, C&EE Investment Director, DTZ
Preston Haskell, Managing Partner, Colliers International Eastern Europe
Katja Huitikka, General Counsel, Director of European Underwriting, Stewart International
Mike de Jong Douglas, Senior Vice President C&EE, ProLogis
Dieter Knittel, Director, Europe, Hypo Real Estate Bank International
Markus Leininger, Head of Corporate Banking C&EE, Eurohypo
Mike Pearce, Senior European Partner, EC Harris
Karl Wilson, General Manager CE & Russia, Aareal Bank

Key Points Noted

• Exploit the value of opm in volatile and developing markets - using "other people's money" to reduce investment and business risk as well as leverage rich opportunities
• Legal infrastructure for land acquisition and land title is improving in the more mature EU-accessed CEE countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Baltic States) but can still hindered by unresolved restitution issues, while the "new markets" of Romania and Ukraine are up to 10 years further behind
• Possible distortions in actual values caused by the post-EU influx of new, more trigger happy investors coupled with normal tightening of availability is presenting new challenges to established developers and investors, including long term equity-only land banking as well as alternative acquisition strategies such as urban regeneration and PPP
• While some banks are ready to lend on land, producing positive opportunities for development planning, this is largely restricted to solid projects and trusted developers
• Romania's land market offers more opportunities than some of the more mature countries, particularly agricultural land for which foreign acquisition is highly regulated and restricted in Poland and other markets, while Ukraine's land markets are opportunity in terms of values rich but fraught with ownership, acquisition and title security issues.