Bouyges' Le Village project in Józefosław will feature typical French regional architecture Courtesy of Brandlab

Poland’s real estate market has seen tremendous growth over the last 10 years and French development and construction firms have been integral to the process.

Despite challenges, the country’s developers are now active in the Polish commercial and residential sectors alike.

French investors in Poland face a lack of local zoning plans, and lengthy administrative proceedings, according to Błażej Czwarnok, a lawyer and real estate specialist at Gide Loyrette Novel.

Mayland Real Estate, a subsidiary of Casino Group, has been a leader in shopping-center development in Poland’s regional cities in recent years.

The company’s completed projects include CH Karolinka in Opole and CH Pogoria in Dąbrowa Górnicza. It is now developing a number of schemes in cities like Szczecin, Gdynia and Kraków.

For its part, Bouygues Immobilier, France’s largest developer, has developed over 1,000 residential units in Warsaw since it entered the Polish market in 2001. It is now working on three residential projects, including Villa Arte and Villa Parc in Warsaw and Le Village in Józefosław.

The latter development will feature 223 single-family homes whose architecture will be reminiscent of homes typical of Normandy, Provence, Alsace and Brittany.

“Bouygues Immobilier Polska’s priority is to quickly develop our residential activity in Warsaw to become one of the leaders of the market. We also decided to diversify our activities by adding an office building project – our first agreement was signed with TP to build their headquarters,” said Laurent Tirot, the firm’s general director.

French firms are also highly visible in Poland’s construction segment. For one, Eiffage Budownictwo Mitex – a part of Eiffage Group, one of the largest construction companies in Europe – is a major general contractor in the Polish market.

The firm’s completed projects include numerous commercial and infrastructural projects in the country. Most recently, it launched work on a new soccer stadium in Białystok.