As announced in October 2016, Rockcastle concluded a preliminary agreement to acquire Galeria Warmińska shopping centre in the city of Olsztyn in Poland from Galeria Warmińska Spółka z Ograniczoną Odpowiedzialnością Spółka Komandytowa. All conditions precedent have been met and the transaction was concluded effective as of 15 December 2016.

Immofinanz AG has announced a change in the preliminary timetable for the intended merger with CA Immobilien Anlagen AG. The reason is the planned divestment of Immofinanz’s Russian property portfolio, which is a condition for the merger of the two companies. The Executive Board and Supervisory Board of Immofinanz today decided to schedule a longer period than originally considered for the process to separate the Russian properties. The recent stabilisation of the economy in Russia has contributed to this decision. 

The sale of Q22 skyscraper located on al. Jana Pawła II in Warsaw has been completed and Invesco Real Estate has become the new owner of the building. Echo Investment expects that the value of the transaction based on fully let NOI and an agreed yield, after all adjustments and additional payments, shall amount to €273 million. The acquisition of Q22 is the largest investment transactions in the office market in Poland and one of the biggest in Central and Eastern Europe in 2016.

Immofinanz has announced the sale of a smaller Austrian retail portfolio to an Austrian real estate investor and, with this transaction, continues its strategic withdrawal from properties that are not part of the core business. The portfolio covers 88 properties with approx. 108,000 sqm of rentable space in eight Austrian provinces. The parties to the transaction have agreed not to disclose any information on the purchase price. The closing will take place in several steps through the end of 2017. 

CBRE has published its inaugural Understanding European Technology Clusters report, highlighting the vibrancy and rapid growth of Europe’s tech sector. The report analyses the characteristics of tech clusters and explores future opportunities among high-performing, and emerging, tech cities across Europe. 

Nordea Bank AB Branch in Poland is one of the new tenants of Olivia Star, a newly constructed building of the Olivia Business Centre in Gdańsk. It leased two floors there occupying nearly 2600 sqm. Colliers International supported the Scandinavian firm in this transaction.

Prague's office market has witnessed several records this year: the lowest annual office supply in history and one of the highest demand volumes. By the end of 2016, Prague´s office market will have 3,245,000 sqm of modern offices. At the same time, the Czech capital recorded the lowest annual office supply in history with only 33,600 sqm in 6 projects, On the contrary, over 180,000 sqm of new office space will be delivered to the Prague market next year. 

FLE GmbH, a company of the LFPI group, has acquired its first property in CEE from an international institutional seller. The acquisition relates to the office building Office Garden I in the Southern Buda area of Budapest, that is 93 percent leased and offers 16,000 square meters of leasable space. The seller was represented by JLL.

Warsaw’s office stock topped 5 million sqm in 2016. High growth dynamics and changing market conditions have led to inter- and intrazone tenant migration in the past two years. Building age is still central to the choice of a suitable location. Cushman & Wakefield presented its findings in a report on the future of the Warsaw office market.

NEPI and Rockcastle have announced that the two companies will effectively be merged in a new entity, NEPI Rockcastle, to be implemented with reference to an effective share swap ratio of 4.5 existing Rockcastle shares for every 1 existing NEPI share. Alexandru Morar and Spiro Noussis, the current chief executive officers of NEPI and Rockcastle, respectively, will be appointed joint chief executive officers of NEPI Rockcastle, with Dan Pascariu appointed as independent non-executive chairman. The merged entity is expected to become the largest listed real estate player in CEE.