River Development, part of Romanian SEMA Group, has announced the start of the construction works for The Light office building located in Politehnica area, on the grounds of the former Pumac factory in Bucharest. The building will have a gross leasable area of 21,000 square meters and will be delivered in the first quarter of 2018 following an investment of around € 33.5 million.

HB Reavis is simultaneously developing three buildings on the largest construction site in Warsaw city centre. The works on the diaphragm walls that will envelop the future basement storeys are nearing completion and a viewing platform has been opened for pedestrians to come and admire the spectacular excavation in progress.

On behalf of one of its investor clients, Redevco, a pan-European retail real estate investment manager, has acquired the neo-renaissance and secession-style City Palais building in the heart of Prague. The retail property was purchased for more than €40 million from a group of private investors.

Construction works on the modern office complex Podium Park in Kraków’s Czyżyny are under way. In connection with completion of the pre-lock-up stage in Building A, Podium Investment started to perform finishing works. Currently, according to the schedule, lock-up stage works in Building A are under way. Completion of the first building is planned for the end of June 2018.

P3 has signed a deal with FM Logistic to be the first occupier at its new park in Lovosice, close to the borders with Germany and Poland in the north of the Czech Republic. The French logistics company is already a well-established P3 customer, with build-to-suit warehouses at P3 Prague D11 park and on two P3 parks in Poland completed earlier this year. It also occupies space on P3 parks in Romania.

Robust GDP growth, wage rises and price inflation are the drivers of retail sales across the CEE region, says Colliers International in its latest research report. Key findings of the report include:

The industrial, logistics and office sectors in Bucharest were the drivers of the real estate development market in the first nine months of the year, while the retail sector recorded the lowest growth rate in terms of projects delivered in this period of time. On the property investment market, the retail sector was the star, cumulating 60% of the volume traded in the first nine months.

Globalworth Real Estate has announced that is seeking to raise about €300 million in a share issue to help fund its expansion in the CEE region.

The leasing department of Echo Investment finalised the lease of the last unit just before the opening of an extended part of Galaxy in Szczecin. Echo Investment is responsible for the construction and lease of the facility for EPP which is the owner and manager of Galaxy.

Granit Polus Group has signed a credit agreement of €335 million with a syndicate of Erste Group Bank AG, Erste Bank Hungary Zrt., UniCredit Bank Hungary Zrt., UniCredit SpA and K&H Bank Zrt. in order to refinance existing loans and provide a capex credit line for WestEnd City Center.