Czech real estate fund Investika has decided to take another step in diversifying its real estate portfolio. Its latest acquisitions are luxury properties in Croatia for short-term rentals.

Slovakia's JTRE enlarged its professional team before the end of the year 2022 and appointed Peter Píš as the new Commercial Director in December, JTRE reports.

Logport Development and Invesco Real Estate have teamed up and, via a forward funding structure, committed to developing a 37,900 sqm Grade A last-mile logistics facility, Logport Prague West, strategically located adjacent to the Prague ring road. The transaction was mediated by Cushman & Wakefield. Logport Prague West, where construction started in September 2022, has already attracted the first tenants to move in during the summer of 2023. The entire commercial zone is scheduled for completion in Q1 2024.

One United Properties has announced the acquisition of three historical buildings in Bucharest with the purpose of restoring and transforming them into a new development of the company - One Downtown.

Trei Real Estate just opened another retail park of its Vendo Park brand in Poland. It is located in Mielec, a small town of around 61,000 residents in the Podkarpackie or Subcarpathian voivodeship in south-eastern Poland. The new Vendo Park has a lettable area of around 7,000 square meters and is occupied by twelve retailers and a supermarket. On the whole, Trei invested c. €11.9 million in the property. As a result, the Vendo Park portfolio of Trei has just increased to a total of 42 retail parks, 32 of which are located in Poland while the others are in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

The first Stop Shop retail park was opened in Budapest in 2002, followed by several shopping centres in the capital and the countryside. Today the portfolio has expanded to 14 locations nationwide offering 137,000 sqm retail space. 

Pedro Construct, one of the largest construction companies in Romania, led by businessman Petre Niculae, is developing - together with his associate Florin Ababe - a new residential assembly in the north of the capital, Jolie Village. The investment in the project is estimated at €21 million and for €12 million, the company has obtained financing through Libra Bank.

As we are seeing a slowing down of new office projects across Budapest and the region, occupancy has emerged as ‘king’, while energy efficiency has become the number one priority for both landlords and tenants. Property Forum asked Jake Lodge, Principal at Avison Young in Hungary about his view on the major changes in the local office market and the way landlords and tenants try to overcome mounting difficulties.

From the warehouse developers' perspective, 2023 will be marked by very well-thought-out purchases. With the costs of financing constantly rising, construction costs changing, and investors pressing for discounts on the existing warehouse market, the land market will be the first to feel this accumulated pressure, says Bartłomiej Krzyżak, Senior Director, Investment at Avison Young.

High energy prices and rising inflation are affecting market conditions across Europe. According to economists' forecasts, the most difficult period will be the coming winter. However, Poland is in a more favourable situation despite rising inflationary pressures, as JLL experts argue in their latest report on the retail market in Poland for Q3 2022. According to Oxford Economics, Poland's GDP will grow by an average of 3.0% per year between 2022 and 2026, well above the average for the EU as a whole and the eurozone (1.8%). In addition, Poland is projected to see the greatest increase in retail spending until 2026. Oxford Economics also reports that retail sales, in real value terms, are expected to grow by 4.6% per annum until 2026, placing Poland among the top European countries.