ARTICLES LABELLED WITH TAG investment

HB Reavis’ Central Europe Real Estate Fund (CEREIF) has sold its retail asset, Aupark Piestany in Slovakia, to New Europe Property Investments (NEPI) for €39.5 million. The shopping centre, totalling 10,000 sqm of GLA and 380 parking spaces, is home to brands such as CCC Shoes, Mango, Orsay and 

Emerging Europe Properties Fund and Discovery Group have sold Nakupní Park Centro Ostrava to Focus Estate Fund. The subject of the sale is a fully leased retail park in Ostrava. Operating since 2011, it offers 7,700 sqm of retail space. Long-term tenants include Mountfield, JYSK, Okay Electric, Breno, Jitona, Kasa, Super Zoo, and Rossmann.

The Polish property market has long been the region’s frontrunner and it seems like that nothing can slow it down. In spite of all the fears of last year related to political instability and the Warsaw office market getting potentially overheated, investment volumes are up significantly and development activity is stronger than ever. Piotr Mirowski, Director of CEE Investment Services at Colliers International Poland talked to us about the country’s investment market. 

Deka Immobilien GmbH has secured the building complex “The Park” in Prague under a purchase agreement with a controlled affiliate of global private investment firm Starwood Capital Group. Under the terms of the transaction—which were not disclosed—the office park will be transferred to the new institutional fund Deka-Immobilien Fokus Prag (DIFP). The fund will be launched when the sale is closed, which is expected to take place at the end of October.

Echo Investment – a Polish developer – and Echo Polska Properties – an international fund operating as a REIT - signed agreements to jointly buy and jointly develop a real property at ul. Towarowa 22 in Warsaw from Griffin Real Estate, a Polish private equity fund. The buyers will pay €120 million for the property – €78 million upon signing the agreement, while the remaining amount will be paid after certain planning conditions are met.

Echo Polska Properties – an international fund operating as a REIT –is purchasing seven office buildings with almost 112,000 sqm of GLA from Echo Investment, a Polish developer. The total value of the properties as at the agreement amounts to almost €264 million. The sold properties are: O3 Business Campus in Kraków (phase I, II and III), Tryton Business House in Gdańsk, A4 Business Park in Katowice (phase III) and Symetris Business Park in Łódź (phase I and II).

This year has witnessed new players entering Central and Eastern European markets which, when combined with investments from the region's traditional players, has further increased CEE investment activity. Colliers, Skanska and JLL has released a joint report that analyses the region’s potential as an investment location.

The Real Estate Workout department of Erste Group Bank AG, has concluded the sale of the luxury resort Radisson Blu Resort & Spa Sun Gardens to a Chinese investor under the terms of a share deal. The property – one of the largest hotel complexes in Croatia – enjoys a prime beachside location in Dubrovnik.

Park Atrium – one of the most recognisable Budapest office buildings, leased to Deloitte, ING and Roche - was sold last week. German-based Asset Manager Corpus Sireo - on behalf of one of their managed accounts - has purchased the building from Accession Fund managed by GLL Real Estate Partners for an undisclosed price believed to be in excess of €50 million.

In the last quarter alone South African investors have spent €1 billion in CEE and it is most likely that they won’t stop chasing higher yields anytime soon. Even though investments in Central and Eastern Europe are generally considered risky by European standards, coming from other parts of the world opportunities in the region may seem rather safe. We report from CEE Property Forum 2016, co-organised by Portfolio Property Forum and RICS, where over 300 visitors and 70 speakers came together to discuss the most pressing issues concerning regional investment markets.