Katarzyna Zawodna will be appointed as the new Business Unit President of Skanska Commercial Development Europe (CDE), the unit responsible for Skanska’s office-building developments in Central and Eastern Europe[1]. Also, Arkadiusz Rudzki, currently Leasing & Asset Director at Skanska Property Poland, will be promoted to Managing Director of this company. The changes will come into effect on 1st January 2016.

Katarzyna Zawodna, the new Business Unit President of Skanska CDE, will be responsible for the company’s business strategy and activities in the area of office investments located in the dynamically developing markets in Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania and Hungary.

“Our goal is to strengthen our leading position in the commercial real estate market as well as in the investment-transactions market in Central and Eastern Europe. This is a very promising region for the whole Skanska Group. CEE accounts for more than 50% of the company’s office-building sales transactions globally. We are successfully conducting this ambitious goal in accordance with our values and approach to partnerships and the quality and solutions required by tenants, employees, city residents and investors. We are contributing to the development of modern, resident-friendly and sustainable agglomerations in the new Europe”, comments Katarzyna Zawodna, current Managing Director of Skanska Property Poland and the future President of Skanska CDE.

Currently, Katarzyna Zawodna leads Skanska Property Poland, the company’s business unit developing office investments in Poland. During her tenure, the company has enhanced its position as one of the most active developers in the country and the most active in the regional markets. Furthermore, it has signed the sale agreements for seven office buildings for EUR 344 M in total. The biggest transaction was the sale of a portfolio of four office buildings - providing more than 63,000 sqm of office space - in Krakow and Katowice. The company has also launched the development of seven new investments in Poland.

On 1st January, Arkadiusz Rudzki will be appointed as Managing Director of Skanska Property Poland. Since 2012, when he joined the company, he has been responsible for creating and conducting the unit’s strategies relating to leasing and asset management of Skanska’s real-estate portfolio. One of his biggest successes was proper recognition of the actual needs of tenants and their employees, as well as adapting offered solutions to those requirements. What seems to be obvious nowadays was not even considered standard several years ago. Skanska was the only office-space developer to enquire about the expectations of companies in the business-services sector (currently the fastest-developing sector in the Polish economy) and create office-building standards adapted to the sector’s needs. This approach resulted in the largest lease agreements signed with outsourcing companies in Poland - 21,000 sqm with Infosys BPO Poland in Łódź, 16,000 sqm with HP GBC, as well as 15,000 sqm with Credit Suisse in Wroclaw, and many more. In 2015, due to further large lease agreements, service centers such as ABB and Capgemini will also be located in Skanska’s buildings. Furthermore, his responsibilities also include relations with key clients in Central and Eastern Europe.

“We develop office buildings aimed at the very heart of the needs of clients and their employees. We recognize and surpass market trends so that our investments are the best locations for tenants and investors. Skanska has always been able to do so. We were the forerunner in developing green, efficient buildings and increasing work productivity. We were the first to create tailor-made office buildings for service centers and companies employing workers from the Generation Y and now targeting Generation Z. We were the only developer to launch a team of RACs (Regional Asset Coordinators) responsible for looking after tenants both before and during the process of signing lease agreements, as well as providing post-sale services. We are developing place-making principles in Poland – creating good working places open to the city and its residents. This is of utmost importance to the company. We want to maintain our leading position in understanding the needs of people and companies. I am excited due to the fact that while being appointed as the Managing Director of Skanska Property, I will be given the opportunity to cooperate with a very mature team that contributed to the company’s leading position as an office-space developer in Poland,” says Arkadiusz Rudzki, current Leasing & Asset Director and the future Managing Director of Skanska Property Poland.

The company’s goals are to maintain the leading position and to develop further in local markets where it is already present, as well as expanding into new markets. In the future, Skanska Property Poland is planning to increase its market activity in Warsaw and launch projects outside the very center in order to offer its products to a wider group of clients.

“I am sure that the quality and philosophy of Skanska will receive huge interest from tenants and investors in all markets”, underlines Arkadiusz Rudzki.