Echo Polska Properties NV (EPP) and Echo Investment are buying Galeria Młociny in Warsaw from Rosehill Investments. The companies will pay nearly €42 million (including the liabilities of the company being the subject of the transaction) for the project which is already under construction. 

The EBRD is joining forces with Mid Europa Partners to strengthen Romanian supermarket and convenience chain Profi Rom Food S.R.L. by providing a €25 million equity investment. Profi operates around 523 stores in more than 272 localities throughout Romania. The EBRD’s financing will support a further expansion of the network, particularly into the country’s smaller towns.

Immofinanz introduces its international office brand myhive to the Hungarian market, to be implemented in five of its office buildings in Budapest. The Greenpoint 7 and Haller Gardens have already become myhive Greenpoint 7 and myhive Haller Gardens, after a transformation process through which the properties’ common areas now offer an extended service range and improved infrastructure to encourage socialization. Plans call for the myhive concept to also be rolled-out at Átrium Park to become myhive Átrium Park, Globe 13 and Xenter 13 buildings to become myhive Thirteen.

2016 was a strong year for the Romanian commercial property market with a continued boom in the office segment and growing investment volumes. Ilinca Paun, Managing Partner at Colliers International talked us about current trends and expectations for the future.

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), one of the world’s leading hotel companies, has announced the signing of Holiday Inn Warsaw West Station. The hotel will be developed with franchisees VHM Hotel Management, owned by the Satoria Group SA, and investors Capital Park. 

Deutsche EuroShop AG has signed a purchase agreement for a shopping centre in the Czech Republic and approved a capital increase excluding subscription rights of up to 4.7 million new shares.

Skanska has acquired land in Prague, Czech Republic, from Codeco UK. The total investment amounts to CZK841 million (app. €31.1 million).

Pradera, a retail property fund and asset manager, has announced the first closing of the Pradera European Retail Parks SCSp, a Luxembourg fund. In a €900 million transaction agreed with IKEA Centres, the Fund has signed a contract to acquire 25 prime retail parks next to IKEA stores in eight European countries, including Poland and the Czech Republic.

Buildings account for over 40% of energy consumption in Europe, of which   around 75% are not energy efficient. This illustrates the importance of obtaining sustainable development certificates for both newly-developed and existing buildings. Their energy efficiency is assessed based on modeling and energy simulations. However, so far, there has not been any analysis regarding the actual energy consumption of a building: what is the impact of the implementation of innovative systems, appropriate management, specifications and the expected level of the users’ comfort on the building energy performance? These issues have been thoroughly addressed in the first study in Europe, conducted by Skanska, Go4Energy and Cushman & Wakefield, which analyses office buildings in Poland.

Commerz Real, a subsidiary of Commerzbank, has purchased a historical office building, " Na příkopě 33" in the centre of Prague for its open-ended real estate fund HausInvest. The seller is Komerční banka, a subsidiary of Société Générale. The transaction price has not been disclosed.