As 2019 ended, Hamilton Group looks back on another record-breaking year. 2020s have found us moving from a small business to an SME, as a result of the growing maturity of the business. While a lot of 2018 has been about locking in the value of the brand and business, last year required much of our input to manage the growth. It was a challenging but rewarding journey we made together. 

We invite you to revisit some of the highlighted moments from 2019. 

One of the key indicators of a healthy growth is revenue. Our residential sales and letting team in Warsaw increased the revenues by 40% compared to 2018 and doubled our turnover compared to 2017.   

Krakow, representing more mature team, established in 2004, grew their revenues by 15% on 2018 and 40% in comparison to 2017. 

It is worth mentioning, that this is the first year in which Warsaw revenues exceeded Krakow ones. This represents how our Warsaw office became one of the leading and most influential real estate brands in the capital.  

Additionally, four new real estate agents, property management specialist and an experienced general manager joined our Warsaw team to help achieve this goal. 

“We continue to be characterized by good team spirit and low staff turnover“ says Rob Watkins, Hamilton Group CEO. “Our experience has helped us keep ahead of our competition.” 

Both major Polish cities witnessed some of the most notable deals of 2019. We conducted the sale of 48 apartments in a unique, discreet development in a historical part of Praga Północ district in Warsaw to a foreign PRS investment fund. The key selling points for this transaction were: high finishing standard of the building and a perfect location right by the entrance of a new Szwedzka metro station. 

Another high-profile transaction was concluded in September. Our Krakow’s agents conducted a sale of a tenement building located in a vibrant and popular district of Podgórze on the right bank of Wisła in Krakow. The disposal has been conducted on behalf of the developer, also to a PRS investment fund. 

Later last year, we have successfully represented an investor in the acquisition of a commercial tenement building at Piękna street in Warsaw’s city center. Our good run results from a few factors – one being the active investment market in which we are working with a number of investors to help them build and dispose of portfolios in Poland, another being the additional Capital Market and PRS services that we have added through our new commercial activity – Hamilton International. 

2019 noticed a growing supply of office space, especially in the capital city, bringing additional 142k m2 and totaling in 5.6 M m2. In response to an increasing demand for office leasing services in Warsaw we have entered commercial leasing market introducing Hamilton International. The new team works the iconic Złota 44 tower, a short walk from Hamilton May’s Warsaw residential office.
 
Hamilton Group was able to attract a very experienced team which allowed us to hit the ground running. Despite a recent start the activity is showing excelled prospects and has been immediately recognized by the market. Hamilton International won the coveted ‘Newcomer of the Year’ award at CEE Investment Awards gala in October and was also nominated for ‘Newcomer of the Year’ at Eurobuild’s The Popular Choice Awards.

Hamilton International expands quickly and is now able to offer services in Krakow as well. 

In addition to the two honorable newcomer distinctions, we maintained our activity in building market recognition. Hamilton May has been nominated for Agency of the Year at the CEE Investment Awards, for the third time in a row. Two Hamilton May Warsaw agents have been short-listed for Top Woman in Real Estate Award. This shows that our teams attract ambitious professionals, ready for both collective and individual successes.  

What’s more, Rob Watkins has been invited to join 9th Property Forum – the biggest commercial real estate conference in Poland, taking place in September in Warsaw’s Sheraton. Rob Watkins was one of the panelists at “Investment apartments” section, where he shared his views on the future of PRS and other property investment opportunities. 

Lastly, our international relations allowed us to be featured in Wall Street Journal MANSION segment. Among a few developments and agents, we have been covered in the article entitled Warsaw’ Haute Look. Housing prices in Poland’s capital are surging as the city develops a taste for high-end, high-rise living.  

In April, after 18 months of intensive work we launched the v.2.0 of our CRM system. As a company, we have always believed in advantages of investing resources, time and expertise in building our own platform, tailored to our organization’s needs and giving us a competitive advantage over our competition. 

A modern real estate agency must enable its employees to easily expand their online property portfolios, update listings, and even enhance their pages with additional features, such as direct links to specific locations, or content-rich descriptions of the most attractive neighborhoods in the given city.  

In the end, it’s a tool designed to help keep customers updated and properly serviced on a day-to-day basis. 

We would like to thank all the clients who trust us each and every day. Many thanks are due  to all the hard-working agents, assistants, photographers, marketing and IT specialists and office administrations in both Krakow and Warsaw. Without you all we would have nothing to say in this end of year summary.  

The market is changing. Our experience led us to working more with investors looking to access the residential sector in PRS and also in capital market transactions. We now have more resources in these sectors than ever as these are the areas of growth for 2020.