Panattoni Europe will develop its third manufacturing facility for Ideal Automotive. This time, the factory will be built in Świdnica, at the Wałbrzych Special Economic Zone Invest-Park, and will take up approx. 27,400 sqm. Construction works will commence as early as this April, and are scheduled for completion in Q4 of this year. The lease was mediated by the advisory firm Colliers International.

The area of shared offices in Prague will grow by 66% year-on-year. At the end of 2017 the total area was 16,500 sqm, and in 2018 it will increase to 27,500 sqm as the market delivers 11,000 sqm. The majority of these centres have been pre-leased. Shared offices are used in the regions as well. There are 76 coworking centres across the Czech Republic with a total area in excess of 25,000 sqm. According to Cushman & Wakefield’s estimates, the current area of shared offices will double by 2020.

The office vacancy rate has decreased to 7.3%, representing a 0.2 pps reduction quarter-on-quarter - the lowest rate ever recorded on Budapest office market. The Budapest Research Forum published its latest figures.

Zeitgeist Asset Management, a company specializing in property development and asset management services for private and institutional investors, has expanded its portfolio by the acquisition of a new property for a German pension fund, administered by Institutional Investment Partners. The residential project is located in downtown Budapest.

Polish developer Katharsis Development sold a portfolio of five retail parks, recognized under the brand “HopStop”, to CPI Property Group. Disposal advisory was conducted exclusively by Apleona GVA.

Large sums are expected to be invested in property again by institutional investors worldwide in 2018. Based on its “Investment Intentions Survey 2018”, INREV expects around €51.1 billion to be invested in property this year. The largest share of this €51 billion will go to Europe (around 41.2 percent), followed by the USA (31.7 percent). The Asia-Pacific region (17.4 percent) is in third place.

Globalworth has announced the execution of a second loan agreement with its subsidiary, Globalworth Poland (GPRE). The loan is being made available to GPRE for a refinancing of the existing financial indebtedness of GPRE and its subsidiaries and the potential acquisition of two new assets currently under due diligence while offering a more flexible capital structure for the expansionary phase that GPRE is in.

Vaclav Jonas has been appointed Managing Director of the Prague office and is thus responsible for all asset and property management activities of CA Immo in the Czech Republic, including tenant support and retention. Vaclav Jonas will be supported by Jan Baxa, who took over the role of Head of Asset Management in the Czech Republic from April 2018, and Radek Poulicek, who joined the company as a Leasing Manager in March 2018.

The Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB) and Postbank (Bulgaria) will jointly provide €58.3 million (€32 million and €26.3 million, respectively) to help finance the construction of a Marriott hotel in Sofia, the first hotel of the international chain in Bulgaria. The 12-year loan will be extended to I Tower Development JSC, a special-purpose company set-up in Bulgaria. BSTDB acted as arranger of the deal. The operation aims at meeting the growing demand for high-quality business and tourist accommodation and conference facilities in the Bulgarian capital.

As a result of large portfolio transactions, the first quarter of 2018 on the Polish real estate investment market closed with a record investment volume of ca. €2.05 billion, according to Savills. Taking into account the number and volume of ongoing transactions, we may expect another very good year on the investment market.