During the third quarter of 2017 the total commercial real estate investment transaction volume reached some €505 million in Hungary, pushing the 2017 year-to-date volume to nearly €1.3 billion, according to JLL Hungary’s latest statistics.

The increased use of technology is already changing the way industrial property is being built and used. Tim Davies, Head of EMEA Industrial and Logistics Agency at Colliers International United Kingdom talked to Property Forum about e-commerce, robotics, big data and many more.

In Q3 2017 gross demand on the Warsaw office market reached 198,600 sqm, which brought the 2017 YTD total to 589,500 sqm. The Polish Office Research Forum has published its figures for Q3 2017 for the office market in Warsaw.

One United Properties, a Romanian residential developer has entered the Bucharest office investment market by purchasing the North Gate office building in Pipera. The property was bought at a public auction for €16.8 million. The developer of the complex, Creativ Invest Grup, filed for insolvency earlier.

French real estate group Catinvest plans to expand Electroputere Parc, the company’s shopping mall in Craiova, by 9,200 sqm. The group has also started the construction of an additional mixed-use building which will comprise 12,000 sqm of retail space, 15,000 sqm of Class A office space and over 700 underground parking spaces. Total investment in will exceed €70 million by the end of 2018.

In 2016, the premises of the former Brno arms factory was taken over by CPI Property Group, which presented the development project Nová Zbrojovka. A new modern neighbourhood is steadily emerging from the brownfield in the wider centre of Brno. At present, the issue of transport infrastructure, the revitalisation of the surrounding area and the clearing of individual spaces is being addressed.

ICP Capital Partners has entered the Czech investment market with the acquisition of Na Rybníčku office building from an Irish private investor. The purchase price is believed to be approximately €5 million (CZK 130 million).

At the beginning of summer 2016, a production and distribution complex owned by one of the largest non-alcoholic beverage producers Coca-Cola HBC Czech and Slovak Republics, was added to the Slovak industrial market. The complex, which offers approximately 30,000 sqm of leasable area with ca. 35,000 sqm of adjacent land for further development was exclusively marketed by the Industrial Agency team in JLL Slovakia. From October 2017 the new owner is Priemyselný areál Lúka s.r.o. The value of the transaction remains confidential.

Savills has appointed Jaroslav Kaizr as Head of Leasing Agency for the Czech Republic & Slovakia.

Poland continues to attract brands from across Europe. The significance and the share of the Food & Beverage proposition within shopping centers continues to grow. Furthermore, both new retail concepts and mixed-use projects have become increasingly popular as well. JLL presents its summary of the Polish retail market as of the end of Q3 2017.