AFI Europe and Dedeman have agreed to cancel the sales transaction of the AFI Park 1-3 office buildings in Bucharest, Romania.

Gross take-up in the first half of the year decreased on yearly basis in the two largest regional cities in the Czech Republic. The Regional Research Forum – comprising CBRE, Colliers International, Cushman & Wakefield, JLL, Knight Frank – published its Brno and Ostrava office market figures for H1 2017.

Europa Capital has concluded the sale of a portfolio comprising two city centre office buildings in Budapest with a total floor area of approximately 26,000 sqm. KGAL, a European asset and investment manager, acquired the Kálvin Square and CityZen assets on behalf of institutional investors. The combined price for the portfolio is approximately €60 million. The property management will be carried out by KGAL´s local partner ConvergenCE. 

The AFI Ploiesti shopping center, owned by AFI Europe Romania, received the LEED Gold Certification. AFI Ploiesti thus becomes the only building in town to achieve the LEED Certification.

An international investment consortium comprising Wing, Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing and CC Real has sold the West End Business Center office building in Budapest to OTP Property Investment Fund.

Gross take-up on the Romanian industrial market grew by 54% in H1 2017, compared with the same period of 2016, to 350,000 sqm. According to JLL Romania, the total demand for industrial space reached 180,000 sqm in the second quarter, a comparable level with the one registered in the first quarter of this year.

Immochan Romania has acquired Coresi Business Park in Brasov from Jacobs Holding. The 40,000 sqm office project is located next to Immochan’s retail and residential developments. The transaction price has not been disclosed.

Net take-up on the Czech industrial market in Q2 2017 totalled 231,200 sqm, representing a yearly decrease of 11%. The vacancy rate reached 4.1%, having decreased marginally by 6 bps since Q1 2017. The Industrial Research Forum announced the industrial market figures for Q2 2017. 

Arcona Capital has finalised the acquisition of the Maris office building in Szczecin, Poland from Bywater Properties for approximately €8.9 million. Following this acquisition, Polish assets now account for 40.5 percent of the portfolio of Arcona’s Arcona Property Fund. 

Investor appetite on the Polish real estate market in Q2 2017 has translated into high transaction volumes which stood at approximately €1 billion. The retail sector accounted for 80% market share of capital invested in Q2, mainly resulting from large portfolio acquisitions. If pending deals conclude, the year-end result should be close to €4.2-4.4 billion, which would be similar to the record of 2016.