Department head or senior representative in Poland, real estate
Paweł Dębowski, Co-Chairman, Europe Real Estate and Piotr Szafarz, Head of Real Estate Poland
Department head or senior representative profile
Paweł Dębowski is the leading real estate investment lawyer in Poland, advising the vast majority of key institutional investors and developers active in Poland and CEE. He focuses on the office, retail and hotel areas. Chambers’ “Star performer”. Appointed in 2014.
Piotr Szafarz is a Chambers’ Band 1 partner, focusing on retail, warehouse, office sectors. Lead counsel on real estate investment projects, including the largest retail transactions in the CEE region. Appointed in 2010.
Key current clients
CPI Property Group, Skanska, Atrium European Real Estate, Apsys, EPP, White Star Real Estate, Savills Investment Management, Hines, Starwood Capital Group, GLL Real Estate Partners, Ghelamco, P3 Logistic Parks, Goodman, Heitman, SEGRO, HB Reavis, Patrizia Immobilien, Benson Elliot, Kajima, Kulczyk Silverstein Properties, Europa Capital, Podium Investment Polska, Globalworth Poland Real Estate, Marr Holdings group, Cavatina Holding, Develia.
Participation in property sales and acquisitions between October 2019 and September 2020
Dentons advised among others:
- CPI Property Group on €800+ M office buildings acquisitions incl.: Equator I, II, IV, WFC, Green Corner A, Moniuszki Tower, Eurocentrum, Chałubińskiego 8 and Concept Tower
- Apsys on €350 M acquisition of shares of Posnania shopping mall and refinancing of senior and mezzanine loans
- Skanska on €214 M sale of two buildings in the High5ive office complex in Cracow and the Nowy Targ office building in Wroclaw
- Hines on €136 M sale of a portfolio of 6 distribution parks and the Nord Point office building
- P3 on €125 M sale of a portfolio of 5 warehouses in Mszczonów
- Cavatina Holding on the sale of 3 office buildings of the Equal Business Park complex in Krakow
- Develia on the sale of the Wola Center building
- Savills IM on the series of acquisitions incl. a portfolio of 5 logistics parks; the Leroy Merlin distribution center near Łódź and a modern logistics center in Łódź
- Podium Investment Polska on €134 M sale of Podium Park
Participation in development projects between October 2019 and September 2020
Dentons real estate development team advised:
- Cromwell Property Group on the extension of Janki Shopping Center.
- Virako on the first and second phase of development of the “Monopolis” commercial, entertainment and office center in Łódź.
- Inopa on the fit out works for the purposes of Citibank space in Centaurus complex (the highest multifunctional building in Olsztyn) of approx. 10,000 sq. m.
- POC Partners on the first and second phase of a residential complex development (Marina Royale) in Darłówko.
- Pinewood on the re-development of two historical office buildings in Katowice to be combined into a four-star hotel for an international hotel operator.
Total value of the transactions on which your company advised between October 2019 and September 2020 (in EUR)
€3.6 billion - an aggregate value of 50 major property sales and acquisitions Dentons advised on (most of them were publicly announced).
Please say why you should be considered for the award
COVID-19 has profoundly disrupted the commercial real estate market in Poland and globally. Despite the lockdown in March and the numerous obstacles we all had to face in the following weeks, Dentons continued providing full legal support to our clients. In the last 12 months, our 60+ strong real estate practice completed 50 major deals valued at ca. €4bn - a fair reflection of the team’s market engagement. In these challenging times, we remain the preferred counsel for international real estate investors, private equity funds, developers and borrowers, to whom we advise across all real estate sectors, incl. ever more often resi4rent and student housing. Dentons’ scale and resources enabled our team to help clients stay ahead of the pack and guide them through this new situation by sharing knowledge, producing legal updates and providing full range client support services which were already tried and tested in other European and Asian countries struck by the pandemic ahead of Poland.
