JLL has been selected by Portuguese company Porto Office as the exclusive commercialisation agent responsible for leasing space at Porto Office A, the second phase of the office and services investment developed in Kraków.

Accelerate Property Fund, a JSE-listed real estate investment trust, has announced it will acquire a portfolio of five single-tenanted, long-lease, light industrial properties in Poland for €41.9 million from Panattoni Europe.

Starwood Capital Group has entered, through a controlled affiliate, into the sale and management back transaction to acquire the Sofitel Budapest Chain Bridge Hotel from Orbis Hotel Group. The hotel is being acquired for €75 million.

LaSalle Investment Management has acquired Palác Andel in Prague from Aberdeen Asset Management Deutschland, the German subsidiary of Aberdeen Standard Investments. This mixed-use scheme in the Prague district of Smíchov–Andel is the first Czech Republic asset for LaSalle E-REGI fund. The total purchase price reached €57.8 million. Cushman & Wakefield and Clifford Chance represented the seller. White & Case, JLL, TPA represented the buyer.

AFI Europe Romania published its financial results. The Net Operating Income (NOI) from its income producing assets in Romania was over €37 million in the first nine months of the year, representing respectively 10.4% higher results compared to the same period in 2016. The value of the existing income producing assets AFI Cotroceni, AFI Ploiesti and the 5 office buildings of AFI Park increased by 7.5% to €735 million according to the valuation performed as of September 30, 2017.

There is an ongoing mentality shift in the property industry which not just about technology, proptech guru James Dearsley revealed at the largest event on the Hungarian property market. Over 700 participants and nearly 100 speakers gathered at the 13th Portfolio Property Investment Forum in Budapest which focused on the future of real estate.

Sevdelina Petrova MRICS (Bulgaria) and Maja Ostanek MRICS (Slovenia) were awarded the Chris H. Bennett Memorial Prize. The awards were handed out at the Portfolio Property Investment Forum conference in Budapest, where the achievements of several big players of the Hungarian property market were also acknowledged.

Aberdeen Asset Management has sold the King Cross shopping centre in Zagreb to SES Spar European Shopping Centers. The transaction price has not been disclosed.

Granit Polus is about to transform the most valuable plot of land in Budapest by a large-scale mixed-use development. The new district will host office buildings, retail units, residential areas and hotels.

BPO/SSC take-up totalled over 60% of all-sector office take-up in 4 key BPO cities (Wroclaw, Lodz, Krakow and Sofia) in H1 2017. Vacant stock is diminishing, due to this demand impulse and strong general economic conditions. Labour availability and employee tech knowhow uplift are significant factors which influence the demand for space, according to a report by Colliers International. The key findings of the report include: