CBRE Global Investors has acquired, on behalf of a separate account client, Prague’s Letňany Shopping Centre from Tesco. The value of the transaction has not been disclosed.

Aluplast sp. z o.o., a supplier of PVC window systems, has signed a lease for 10,000 sqm of warehouse and manufacturing space at the Logicor Poznań III distribution centre. Cushman & Wakefield represented the tenant in the lease negotiations.

TriGranit appointed the Hungarian office of CBRE with the exclusive leasing of its latest development in Budapest. The Millennium Gardens office building is being constructed alongside the Palace of Arts and the National Theatre, on the Danube side of Soroksári Road. It will offer 37,000 sqm of leasable space and it is expected to be completed by 2019. 

In 2016, new supply totalled 497,000 sqm on the Czech industrial market and at the end of the year a further 426,600 sqm of storage and industrial space was under construction. Prime headline rents achieved in the Czech Republic remained stable during Q4 2016 and currently stand at €4.25 sqm/month. The Industrial Research Forum has published its preliminary industrial market figures for Q2 2016.

Altex, one the largest retailers of electronics, home appliances, IT&C and multimedia products in Romania, has doubled its lease in the P3 Bucharest industrial park by signing a new contract for 15,000 sqm of warehouse space. 

ZF TRW, a global automotive supplier, has selected Symetris Business Park – developed by Echo Investment – as the location for its new electronics engineering centre in Łódź. The company has leased nearly 2,400 sqm of space. JLL advised ZF TRW on the process of selecting the new space.

Heitman LLC, a global real estate investment management firm, has announced the appointment of Kurt Jovy as Senior Vice President, Director of European Acquisitions. Mr. Jovy, who will be based in Munich, will report directly to Gordon Black, Senior Managing Director of Heitman’s European Private Real Estate Equity group.

Aberdeen Asset Management Deutschland AG has signed an agreement to sell the Construdava office building in Bucharest to AdamAmerica, the advisor of the seller, Colliers International reported.

International real estate advisor Savills has reported that investors into Europe’s retail sector are shifting their interest to some of the continent’s non-core markets. Investment into Europe’s retail sector during Q1-Q3 2016 reached €33.3 billion across the 15 markets that Savills covers, down 28% from the 2015 record volume. However, despite the overall drop of total turnover in the two largest markets of the UK (-18%) and Germany (-46%) during this time period, Europe’s non-core markets in contrast have experienced a significant rise in retail investment. These include: Ireland (223% to €1.46 billion); Poland (126% to €1.4 billion) and Italy (119% to €1.8 billion).

Looking at what is going on in world politics, TriGranit’s CEO finds it difficult to comprehend why many still stress the political risk factor when talking about the Central European real estate market. He’s optimistic about the future and expects further diminishing returns on investment, along with new investors appearing in Budapest. Árpád Török talked to us about plans for developing TriGranit and the future of the real estate market.