The financing is coming from the Emerging Markets Fund in cooperation with Hines. The Hypo Vereinsbank Bank Hipoteezny SA and Bayerische Hypo-und Vereinsbank AG provided additional funding. Hines vice president George Lancaster tells GlobeSt.com that the project has been six years in the making. It has taken a long time to get the building perfected and the construction off the ground, he says.

Lancaster says this development was the first project on the boards for the first Emerging Markets Fund, there are now two. The initial fund was established in 1996, and the second, 1998. The funds purpose is to finance acquisition, renovation and development of office, residential and mixed-use properties in emerging-market countries.

The Metropolitan is a mixed-use commercial complex that will face Pilsudski Square and abut the National Opera House. The complex will have three interconnected buildings with 345,000 sf of office space, 45,000 sf of retail space and a 410-car, two-level garage. Famous European architect, Lord Norman Foster of the London-based firm, Foster and Partners is the designer of the property. He is cooperating with Warsaw's JEMS Architekei Sp.zoo.

The project will offer floor plates in excess of 50,000 sf and space will be leased either vertically or horizontally. The architects worked with the regional historic heritage conservator to ensure the design complements the architecture of nearby Pilsudski Square. Hines has had a Warsaw office since 1997.

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