Recent changes in Sunday trading laws and commercial property tax regulations have not discouraged investors, both the existing well-established players as well as new entrants to the market. Similarly to the previous year, the portfolio transactions in 2018 are expected to account for a significant share in the total investment volume. Jędrzej Suchowolec, Senior Advisor at Cresa Poland, commented on current investors’ interest in retail properties.

Avestus Capital Partners, an Irish real estate investment and asset manager, sold a landmark office building in the heart of Sofia. Moskovska Business Center changed its owner after several months of negotiations with strong interest from local and foreign investors. The buyer is a Bulgarian company owned by private investors with interests in different fields of business. The transaction price has not been disclosed. Cushman & Wakefield Forton acted as an exclusive advisor to the seller.

In 2017, the Polish industrial market continued to develop at a high level. The intense activity among developers, who delivered over 2.3 million sqm to the market, and among tenants who leased nearly 4.6 million sqm, led to another record for both sides – according to the latest report by Colliers International.

Poland remains an attractive destination for investments and this is reflected in the impressive results on the office markets both in Warsaw and regional cities. With ambitious plans, investors are looking to the future with optimism. JLL summarized the situation on the Polish office market in 2017.

Apleona GVA has secured a contract for technical support and advisory services during the pre-opening phase of the Holiday Inn Warsaw City Centre Hotel and the transition to the new owner. The 256-room property is ready to host its guests. It was officially acquired by Union Investment Real Estate GmbH on January 31st for its UniImmo: Deutschland fund.

Wing Zrt. has acquired a retail portfolio which includes the EuroCenter Óbuda shopping centre as well as two properties in the regional city of Szombathely. The company has over ten years of experience developing and managing retail properties and plans to carry out value-enhancing investments across the new portfolio with a particular focus on the Buda shopping centre. Wing intends to invest in improving the shopping centre’s existing strengths for both shoppers and tenants.

In 2017, real estate transactions hit a record-breaking volume of € 5 billion, up by nearly 10% on the previous year. Bank financing for properties remained unchanged, averaging approximately 60% of each property’s value. Cushman & Wakefield has published its opinion on the commercial property lending market in Poland, written by Mira Kantor-Pikus, Partner, Equity, Debt & Structured Finance, Capital Markets at Cushman & Wakefield Poland.

Prologis has signed four lease agreements totalling 62,700 square metres at its parks in Chorzów and Dąbrowa Górnicza, bringing its Silesian portfolio to 98 percent occupied.

CPI Property Group announced the disposal of the Budaörs Office Park property in Hungary, located in the Western suburbs of Budapest, at an undisclosed price. The buyer is a Hungarian real estate fund which has not been named.

By the end of last year, the office portfolio of the Iulius Company reached a total of 121,000 sqm leasable area following the opening of the second office building within Openville Timişoara, a project developed together with Atterbury Europe in the vicinity of Iulius Mall.