Q&A – Artur Mokrzycki

At the beginning of the 1990s, Artur Mokrzycki was a project manager for France's state-owned financial institution, Caisse des Dép^ts et Consignations (CDC), where he was involved in €240 million worth of acquisitions in Central Europe's emerging real estate market. A decade later, in 2002, CDC contributed €200 million to a Central European property fund set up by Curzon Global Partners, a subsidiary of IXIS AEW Europe. The fund, PBW I, which is named after the vehicle's target cities of Prague, Budapest and Warsaw, acquired approximately €600 million of core-plus properties. The follow-up fund, PBW II, has recently held a second close on €250 million of commitments. Below, Mokrzycki, who is responsible for both funds, talks about the development of the Polish market, the country's retail sector, and why investors are beating down his door.