EU woes hurt developer's Poland projects
Vince Polimeni has had about 20 projects get approved in Poland, but has yet to build. (March 11, 2011) Credit: Howard Schnapp
Earlier this year, Vince Polimeni won the Long Island Developer of the Year Award for work his company did -- in Poland.
It was a joke, sort of. The Association for a Better Long Island, a developers' group, gave the award to Garden City-based Polimeni International to demonstrate its frustration that so few development projects were taking place on Long Island. Everyone had a good laugh.
Now, no one is laughing. There are still few new development projects on the Island, and Polimeni, who has built eight shopping centers in Poland in the last 10 years, says the European financial crisis has hurt the Eastern European country's economy.
Poland has fared far better than many other EU countries but, said Polimeni, "My tenants are having difficulty paying their rent."
That's because Poles are holding onto their wallets as other European countries grapple with debt problems. "All of Europe is concerned," Polimeni said.
Polimeni said he has about 20 building projects in Poland that have been given the go-ahead by various municipalities.
"But there's no way I'm going to build anything now," he added, given the slow spending in the country and the slower growth rate.
Polimeni visits his projects in Poland about once a month, and he just got back from a trip two weeks ago. He is confident the economy there will come back.
"Europe has to get their act together, as they do here," he said.
