Pan-European fund manager Aerium has sold a shopping centre in Brno to CPI Property Group, for an undisclosed sum. Built in 2004, Kralovo Pole Shopping Centre comprises of a two-level gallery with 78 shops and a food court, providing a total of 26,500 sqm GLA plus 900 parking spaces. It is anchored by a Tesco hypermarket.

Union Investment has sold the 18,000 sqm office property Krisztina Palace in Budapest. The property was acquired in 2008 as a development project and has been part of the portfolio of the open-end real estate fund Unilmmo: Global ever since. The property has been purchased by the Erste Open-Ended Real Estate Investment Fund, managed by Erste Asset Management, the asset management arm of Erste Group. CBRE brokered the transaction and the legal firm CMS provided legal advice. 

Over 722,200 sqm of office space is currently under construction across Warsaw, but despite such a high level of new supply, the market remains healthy which is proved by a decreasing vacancy rate and a record high letting activity in H1 2017. Savills summarised the first half of the year on Warsaw’s office market.

Gross take-up on the Prague office market in the second quarter of 2017 amounted to 153,500 sqm, representing an increase of 45.0% compared to the previous quarter and an increase of 36.9% in year-on-year comparison. The Prague Research Forum announced the office market figures for Q2 2017. 

The office market in Warsaw broke another record – total demand for office space in H1 2017 was 391,400 sqm. Wola continues to grow in terms of both popularity and significance. JLL summarised H1 2017 on the office market in Warsaw. 

Total real estate investment in Europe reached €74 billion in Q2 2017, representing a 25% increase on the same period last year, according to CBRE. Central Europe as a region proves to be more attractive to international investors than last year with Hungary accounting 15% of the overall investment volume.

South African fund Hystead has acquired of The Mall, one of the largest shopping centres in Bulgaria, located in the capital city Sofia. The acquisition, upwards of €156 million, represents the fourth investment in the region by Hystead Limited, a joint venture between Hyprop Investments and Homestead Limited, who previously acquired the Delta City shopping centres in Podgorica and Belgrade alongside Skopje City Mall in Macedonia at the end of 2016. 

The EPISO 4 opportunistic fund, advised by Pan-European real estate manager Tristan Capital Partners, has acquired the Avenir Business Park office complex in Western Prague from debt restructuring firm Lone Star.

CTP recently closed on two acquisitions, known among the CEE real estate industry as the Aviva and IPEC deals. The company acquired two buildings in the Czech Republic and two buildings in Romania. At the same time, CTP disposed of two non-core assets in Bratislava and Prague.

Panattoni Europe launched the courier parcel distribution centre project for GLS Poland. This cross-dock facility will cover approx. 7,600 sqm and is being developed in the BTS and BTO formula in Janki near Warsaw. Execution of the project officially commenced on 20 July and the actual project start-up is scheduled for February 2018.