Non-Standard Commercial Real Estate Financing

The Challenge:

Our client — the owner of a real estate company managing a portfolio of office buildings in Warsaw and Kraków — faced the challenge of repurchasing a property from a sale-and-leaseback transaction.

The situation was complicated by the pandemic: most lease agreements were nearing expiration, leaving no stable rental income to meet standard bank lending criteria. The client’s existing bank declined to provide financing.

Our Support:

Behind Every Project Are People
We leveraged our long-standing experience and strong relationships with project finance teams at several banks to identify an institution willing to consider a non-standard transaction.

The pandemic posed exceptional challenges for commercial real estate. In this case, a rational financial structure alone would not suffice. It was the excellent reputation of our client — built over years of community engagement and reliable business conduct — that became the decisive factor in moving the project forward.

Documentation Preparation
We prepared financial forecasts and a compelling information memorandum that convinced the bank to take on the opportunity.

We proposed a disbursement structure that balanced the bank’s risk appetite with the client’s business timeline — ultimately enabling the repurchase, backed by a well-founded expectation that existing leases could be extended or replaced with new tenants after the transaction.

Process Coordination
We guided the client through negotiations with the leasing company, the financing bank, and legal counsel responsible for transaction documentation.

The process concluded with successful disbursement and legal transfer of property ownership back to the client.

The Result:

Thanks to our support, the client successfully completed the repurchase despite a challenging market environment and the transaction’s non-standard nature.

This case shows that even when a project falls outside typical bank frameworks, the right structure can be achieved. The key to success was the combination of our expertise and banking relationships with the client’s strong reputation and determination.

If you are planning an investment in Poland or need guidance in navigating Polish financial institutions, contact us.