Effective from the beginning of March 2023, Urszula Matej-Bil has been appointed Management Board Member responsible for marketing and communications at EPP, the largest asset manager of retail real estate located in Poland. She has been at the company since 2019 when she joined its structures as PR and Communications Director.

Czech group of real estate funds ZDR Investments has strengthened its position in the Slovak market. The company has acquired a retail park in Topoľčany for its Public fund. The acquisition expanded the Group’s portfolio to 64 properties with a total value of more than €516 million, ZDR announced.

Panattoni has started the development of 25,000 sqm of speculative space on ul. Dostawcza in Łódź. It is to be a brownfield development built on the site of a former gas bottling plant. City Logistics Łódź VI is to be certified under BREEAM for a rating of ‘Excellent’ with the developer to take measures such as preparing the roofs for solar panel installations.

The prolonged conflict in Ukraine (the refugee wave) and the significantly reduced credit scores increase the demand for renting apartments and thus, affect the development of the PRS market in Poland. The institutional rental sector will also grow due to the changing perception of homeownership by young people, who value mobility and do not necessarily need to own a home. According to Eurostat data from 2021, about 30 percent of the population in the European Union live in rented apartments, while in Poland this number amounts to only about 13 percent. Paulina Brzeszkiewicz-Kuczyńska, Research and Data Manager at Avison Young Poland, summarises this sector's current situation. 

Property developer Atenor has named Viorel Lăcătuș as Country Manager in Romania. He has more than 19 years’ worth of experience in real estate, mostly in advisory roles.  

The mood among investors at MIPIM was mixed: we all expected that the beginning of this year would not be rich in transactions and new projects, and it is true - we are seeing an investment slowdown across Europe, writes Marcin Purgal, Senior Director, Investment at Avison Young. However, in this time of uncertainty, we can say that Poland is enjoying and will continue to enjoy the interest of investors - it is one of the most active markets, across all segments, offering higher rates of return than Western Europe. We have an influx of new capital from the Baltic countries and Scandinavia. Also, the already present capital is still active, such as investors from Central and Eastern Europe as well as a few from Western Europe.

Heimstaden Bostad has established a combined green and sustainability-linked financing framework to enable the issuance of green and sustainability-linked financing instruments.

Europe’s largest retail estate fair, MIPIM, which took place in Cannes last week, has shown that the industry was on the move. Interestingly enough, the market mood is by no means as negative as is frequently suggested. On the contrary, Arnold Investments reports lively interest from international investors. The focus is particularly on properties of up to €50 million. “Many deals are about to be finalized”, summarizes Markus Arnold, CEO and sole owner of Arnold Investments.

Property group Globalworth said its total combined portfolio value remained effectively unchanged at €3.2 billion during 2022 compared to 2021, while investments in logistics/light-industrial facilities in Romania and the refurbishment/repositioning of two mixed-use properties in Poland totaled €52.2 million. 

Office leasing volumes in Timișoara amounted to 51,400 sqm during 2022, which was more than half of the total deals closed in regional cities. Iași and Cluj-Napoca were next with volumes of 26,700 sqm and 15,200 sqm, respectively, while in Brașov office leasing covered 5,900 sqm.