|
A
talk
to Ms.
Dorota
Koźmińska,
President
of DK-Buma
Development
Sp.
z o.o.
You
have
been
active
on the
construction
market
for
many
tears.
What,
in your
opinion,
should
be the
image
of a
housebuilder?
Housebuilders,
or developers,
are
one
of those
groups
that
stimulate
local
economy.
A great
number
of people
work
for
and
around
that
business,
to mention
only
designers
and
land
surveyors,
manufacturers
and
vendors
of construction
materials,
construction
companies,
and,
obviously,
banks.
Owing
to the
developers’
efforts,
many
really
beautiful
facilities
were
built
in Kraków
during
last
years.
Those
buildings
have
better
been
designed
and
constructed,
and
they
are
better
adjusted
to efficient
management.
All
that
deserves
to be
reminded,
since
the
press
too
rarely
writes
about
good
examples,
while
very
often
depicting
the
"doubtful"
prestige
of our
business
and
showing
us on
lookout
for
customers’
monies.
I
have
had
the
privilege
to manage,
for
seven
years,
the
Kraków
Division
of the
Polish
Housebuilders’
Association,
so I
know
that
local
developers
are
good
working
professionals
who
practise
a very
difficult
profession
requiring
the
combination
of various
fields
of knowledge.
Last
year,
large-scale
developing
companies
appeared
in Kraków,
with
larger
capitals
that
can
give
them
advantage
in market
struggles.
Aren’t
you
afraid
that
following
Poland’s
entering
the
European
Union
still
more
powerful
"stakeholders"
may
appear?
I
trust
we do
not
have
anything
to be
afraid
of.
Reliable
companies,
with
traditions,
experience
and
good
opinion,
having
good
knowledge
of the
local
market
will
always
find
a place
on it.
Moreover,
I think
that
those
world
large
companies
will
not
care
for
investing
in our
region.
This
is a
market
of quite
a limited
absorbing
capacity,
and
one
cannot
sell
hundreds
or thousands
flats
in a
short
time
here.
Those
great
developers
are
well
aware
of that.
Instead,
we already
have
in Kraków
medium-sized
companies
and
their
coexistence
with
smaller,
often
family-based
developing
companies,
can
be reconciled.
Some
changes
must
inevitably
take
place,
but
I am
hopeful
for
the
future,
common
market.
Competition
is the
best
way
to regulate
the
rules
of existence
of businesses.
I also
mean
competition
among
institutions
that
finance
construction
and
purchase
of real
estates
–
loan
offers
for
developers
and
their
clients.
The
loan
offer
market
is growing
quickly,
that
of the
loan
interest
rates
is growing
slower,
though
the
rates
decrease.
If not
for
the
quite
well-off
society,
we could
believe
that
we are
on the
best
way
to meet
the
world’s
standards,
where
100%
of real
estate
acquisitions
is financed
from
bank
loans.
Banks,
however,
became
involved
in an
easier
job,
that
is supporting
our
clients,
and
do not
offer
much
assistance
to developers.
What,
according
to you,
must
or should
change
on the
housing
market?
Offers
presented
by Polish
developers
do not
differ
from
those,
presented
by foreign
companies.
We can
prepare
projects
equally
well,
we have
very
good
designers,
same
construction
materials
are
available
to us,
and
the
level
of performance
is also
the
same.
The
Polish
and
foreign
markets
differ
in respect
of demand
and
level
of affordability
of flats
and
houses.
One
must
differentiate
between
needs
and
demand.
Demand
boils
down
to a
small
group
of customers
who
are
capable
of managing
the
financial
burden
related
to the
purchase
of a
new
flat,
while
actual
housing
needs
are
so large
that
given
correct
financing
mechanisms,
no foreign
competition
would
be able
to jeopardize
Kraków
developers.
One
often
hears
complaints
that
the
work
of developers
is made
additionally
difficult
by non-friendly
procedures
and
laziness
of offices.
Does
the
group
of Kraków
developers,
which
is relatively
strong
and
thus
can
lob
in offices,
try
to somehow
affect
the
improvement
of the
operation
of offices?
It
might
seem
that
offices
are
parties
to the
project
preparation
and
implementation,
and,
for
obvious
reasons,
should
cooperate
with
developers,
and
not
to make
things
more
difficult
to them.
Offices
have
been
established
for
that
very
purpose
and
are
financed
from
our
taxes.
In fact,
we are
still
waiting
in Kraków
(the
situation
is better
in other
cities)
for
the
administrative,
formal
and
legal
procedures
to become
more
efficient
and
fully
professional,
in order
to allow
for
quick
implementation
of projects.
It is
not
a secret
that
the
time
spent
on the
obtaining
of the
set
of decisions
and
approvals
impacts
the
project
costs,
though
we speak
of it
too
seldom.
If a
company
"is
waiting,"
it cannot
suspend
its
operation,
but
it "exists
and
incurs
costs":
money
flows
out
of it,
and
does
not
flow
in.
That
"idle
run
operation"
cost
increases
flat
prices
or decreases
the
company’s
profitability;
in general,
both
things
occur
at the
same
time.
Coming
back
to your
question:
of course,
we try,
through
our
Association,
to affect
the
improvement
of the
operation
of offices.
Prior
to the
last
local
government
election,
we had
meetings
with
all
city
mayor
candidates.
It cannot
be concealed,
however,
that
today
we still
are
petitioners.
Recently,
there
has
been
a change
of the
chief
of the
municipal
Department
of Architecture
and
Urban
Planning,
which
department
is of
the
top
interest
to us.
I wish
every
success
to the
new
Manager.
DK-Buma
Development
Sp.
z o.o.
is a
new
investor,
though
its
name
may
sound
familiar
to many
residents
of Kraków.
DK-Buma
Development
is a
member
of the
Buma
Group.
Buma
Group
has
been
operating
on the
housing
market
since
1991.
Buma
constructed
more
than
230
single-family
houses
and
more
than
1,500
flats.
DK-Buma
Development
combines
the
developer’s
expertise
of the
Buma
Group
and
the
experience
of the
Company’s
owners.
I am
one
of them,
and
I will
gladly
introduce
myself
to the
readers.
I am
an architect.
In the
1990s,
I managed
the
Kraków-based
division
of PHENIX,
the
largest
developer
and
manufacturer
of single-family
houses
in France,
known
for
their
construction
of a
single-family
estate
at Rząska,
near
Kraków.
Later
I was
a founder
and
chief
executive
of the
Kraków
division
of Warbud
S.A.,
a potentate
on the
Polish
construction
market,
the
best
company
in Poland.
Therefore,
I have
a designing,
developing
and
constructing
experience.
I think
I do
not
have
to introduce
Mr.
Jacek
Michalski,
my partner,
as he
is the
owner
of the
Buma
Group
companies
and
a businessman
known
in Kraków.
Being
one
of the
most
experienced
developers
in Poland,
he can
account
for
the
construction
of a
dozen
or so
of housing
estates.
He has
for
years
been
involved
in the
elaboration
of modern
construction
technologies.
He is
the
President
of the
Management
Board
of the
Polish
Housebuilders’
Association,
the
most
numerable
organisation
to incorporate
professional
stakeholders
of the
housing
market.
The
Buma
Group
began
with
housing
estates
and
mortgage
homes.
In a
certain
moment,
the
Group
focused
on the
construction
of dwellings
under
the
TBS
Social
Building
Association
scheme,
which
was
booming
at the
time.
The
steel
framework
technology
seems
to suit
perfectly
that
type
of construction
where
clients
want
their
flats
quickly.
Is the
return
to the
mortgage
housing
market
related
to the
current
problems
of the
TBS
Associations?
The
return
to a
developers’
market
and
the
nature
of our
offer
result
from
our
experience,
market
assessment
and
current
offer
of BUMA
as manufacturer
of single-family
houses
and
multi-family
residential
buildings.
We have
prepared
two
offers
of housing
estates
for
non-standard
clients
who
prize
"individual"
and
not
"anonymous"
styles
of life
and
living,
as we
believe
it to
be the
dream
of many
people
to escape
from
the
blocks
of flats,
even
from
those
new
and
colourful
but
overcrowded
ones,
to places
that
offer
a larger
comfort
of life.
We have
two
parallel
offers:
a small
complex
of houses
and
flats
called
the
"Mała
Góra"
and
the
estate
of single-family
houses
called
the
"Dębowy
Park."
The
complex
of multi-family
buildings
of Mała
Góra
is exceptional
in every
respect:
it is
excellently
accessible
by various
means
of transportation
and,
at the
same
time,
located
in a
peaceful
and
quiet
area
at the
border
of the
old
and
new
parts
of the
district
of Bieżanów.
This
is a
part
of the
city
which,
due
to already
completed
road,
commercial
and
service
projects,
is a
perfect
place
to live
in.
The
complex
has
only
36 flats
in four,
two-storey
buildings,
located
in gardens.
Two
of the
buildings
are
identical
to those
that
are
currently
being
erected
in London.
They
were
designed
by the
London-based,
architectural
office
of PCKO
Architects,
winner
of many
UK awards
for
design
quality,
managed
by Mr.
Andrzej
Ogorzałek.
One
can
say
that
the
buildings
are
characterised
by their
"western"
style,
with
emphasis
on comfort,
and
that
high
role
is played
by the
"apartment-like"
structure
of flats.
Since
there
are
only
two
flats
on a
storey,
each
of them
is perfectly
exposed
to daylight.
Also
mechanical
ventilation
will
be installed,
the
flats
will
have
large
balconies,
over
9 square
metres,
and
e.g.
sliding
sun
screens,
since
it is
known
that
too
much
sunlight
may
also
be a
problem.
The
two
remaining
houses
were
designed
by Czora
&
Czora
office
from
Katowice,
renowned
for
clever
combining
of the
buildings
beauty
and
functionality.
The
complex
has
been
perfectly
planned;
houses
are
located
in the
pedestrian
zone,
which
is safe
to children
and
fosters
rest.
Each
of the
flats
shall
have
its
own
parking
place
in a
closed
parking
lot.
Such
a small
complex
gives
the
tenants
the
feeling
of safety
and
community
in the
best
sense
of living
at one’s
own
home.
Everybody
knows
that
comfort
must
be costly.
The
building
was
designed
by a
renowned
foreign
architect,
and
there
are
only
few
flats
on the
land
plot.
Don’t
those
facts
negatively
impact
the
price
and
future
operation
costs
of the
flats?
I
am quite
sure
that
the
operation
costs
will
not
be higher
than
the
average
ones,
because
the
buildings
are
were
well
insulated,
windows
have
low
heat
transfer
coefficient,
while
all
utility
connections
have
their
own
meters,
so the
operation
will
not
drain
the
tenants’
pockets.
As far
as the
British
design
is concerned,
I must
say
that
the
concept
was
the
adaptation
of a
London
model,
while
the
construction
design
was
prepared
in Poland.
I would
also
like
to stress
that
a good
design
does
not
mean
an expensive
design.
More
important
is the
creative
way
of thinking
which
does
not
directly
render
a high
price.
My
idea
was
that
a small
number
of flats
means
a higher
price
of land
plot
per
individual
flat.
How
did
you
calculate
the
costs?
While
compiling
our
price
schedules,
we took
into
consideration
both
our
costs
and
the
market
reality.
We must
take
into
account
whether
the
price
proposed
by us
will
be accepted
by the
market.
I believe,
we have
offered
very
attractive
prices,
depending
on the
storey,
but
the
cost
of any
flat
does
not
exceed
2,900
Polish
zlotys/m2
gross.
The
ground-floor
flats
cost
2,500
Polish
zlotys/m2
and
offer
quite
another
standard
of living
than
ordinary
ground-floor
flats
in any
block
of flats.
The
flats
are
transferred
for
use
under
the
so-called
"developer’s
scheme,"
that
is without
finished
floors,
paint
or wallpaper
on walls,
with
all
utility
connections
but
without
the
sanitary
ceramic
ware.
Of course,
we can
finish
flats
upon
clients’
wishes.
While
watching
the
situation
in Kraków,
one
can
often
see
a developer,
acting
like
a pioneer
and
constructing,
with
smaller
or bigger
troubles,
dwellings
in a
yet
non-popular
region,
and,
then,
follows
a series
of housing
projects,
implemented
by competitors.
This
has
been
proved
by my
first
experience,
related
to PHENIX
Polska
in 1991,
when
my French
bosses
inquired,
with
deep
concern,
if anybody
would
be willing
to live
in Rząska
near
Kraków.
I have
had
the
pleasure
of living
there
for
10 years
and
I can
see
how
people
value
that
location.
It is
one
of the
tasks
of a
developer
to indicate,
or to
promote
a good
place.
This
is a
good
moment
in our
conversation
to present
our
second
offer:
a housing
estate
of single-family
houses
which
we have
called
the
"Pod
Dębami,"
or the
"Oak
Park"
in English.
And
not
without
a reason;
there
are
many
beautiful
trees
in the
area,
like
oaks,
birches
and
alders.
In a
quiet
Korepty
Street,
we are
constructing
a housing
estate
for
requiring
customers,
giving
them
the
possibility
to order
a home
from
the
catalogue,
like
a car,
to choose
from
many
options,
with
"home
delivery."
We release
them
from
the
ardour
of document
approval,
managing
and
supervising
individual
construction
sites,
we protect
them
against
accidental
neighbours.
Our
customers
will
live
in a
good
neighbourhood,
in a
safe
and
comfortable
surrounding,
enjoying
their
own
gardens
in the
city.
You
are
going
to build
under
two
different
technologies.
Why?
It
is a
novelty
to offer
the
choice
of the
building
technology
in relation
to flats
or a
houses.
They
can
be purchased
from
us,
either
made
of volumetric,
lightweight
clay
aggregate
modules,
or made
of traditional,
hollow
bricks.
Those
first
houses
are
constructed
quicker,
in a
warm
and
dry
factory
hall,
independently
from
weather
conditions.
Those
traditional
ones
are
constructed
longer,
but
we have
decided
to give
customers
an option,
and
not
to persuade
them
into
choosing
modern
technologies
when
they
like
the
traditional
ones.
What
meaning
does
it have
to your
customers?
All
preference
surveys
of Polish
customers
indicate
their
predilection
for
the
traditional
technology:
a house
must
simply
be a
masonry
one.
Well,
in our
case,
a modular
structure
building
stimulates
much
more
interest.
Surely,
it is
not
without
a significance
that
there
is a
shorter
period
of waiting,
as the
housing
market
lacks
offers
with
short
completion
terms.
Moreover,
that
technology
has
already
been
verified
in practice,
as several
thousand
people
live
in BUMA
buildings.
What
are
your
plans
concerning
your
Kraków
business?
What
position
would
you
like
to occupy
on the
market?
Our
Company’s
scope
of operation
includes
the
construction
of various-size
housing
estates
of single-
and
multi-family
houses,
the
so-called
infill
buildings,
apartment
buildings,
as well
as preparation
of project
sites.
We are
contemplating
some
new
projects,
both
in the
very
city
centre,
and
outside
the
city.
I trust
that
our
market
position
will
grow,
following
the
growth
of the
society’s
wealth.
And
this
is something,
I wish
me and
our
customers.
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