In the current time of intense market changes, space in centrally located boutique office buildings might become a good option for companies migrating from large Warsaw facilities, according to consultancy firm Walter Herz.

Global investment firm KKR and Franek Sodzawiczny, a leading data centre entrepreneur and executive, announced the formation of Global Technical Realty, a build-to-suit and roll-up acquisition data centre platform in Europe.

Europi Property Group has acquired a 12.3% stake in Capital Park, an owner, operator and developer of office and mixed-use assets in Poland, predominantly Warsaw. While EPG had been tracking the company since late 2019, the opportunity to invest arose as a result of the market distress in March, enabling the acquisition at an attractive discount to the net asset value.

Belgian developer Atenor has obtained a building permit for its Up-Site Bucharest project which will consist of 270 residential units in two glass towers of 12 and 24 floors. Upon completion, these two towers will be the tallest residential buildings in the Romanian capital.

In Q1 2020, the total office stock of Poland’s nine largest markets (Warsaw, Krakow, Wrocław, Tricity, the Upper Silesian and Zagłębie Metropolis, Poznań, Łódź, Lublin, and Szczecin) reached close to 11.3 million sqm, up by 5% on the same period in 2019. Cushman & Wakefield summarised Q1 2020 on the Polish office market.

European real estate investment activity is set to plummet by 50% before rebounding sharply within the next 12 months, according to Savills, who predicts that neither the speed or the depth of the crash will be as bad as the global financial crisis when volumes across the continent plunged by 72% between 2007-2009.

According to a study conducted by research body Inquiry for the Polish Council of Shopping Centres (PRCH), 51% of those surveyed visited shopping centres in the first week after they reopened following the easing of the lockdown measures. Out of these, 64% visited shopping centres to make specific purchases, while 31% went to browse the stores or to seek out promotions.

Czech real estate developer Kaprain Group, owned by businessman Karel Pražák, has launched the construction of the 30,000 sqm Kaprain Harfa Business Center office project next to Prague’s O2 Arena, local daily E15 reports.

CA Immo presented its results for the first quarter of 2020. The company registered solid growth in rental income (+7.2% year-on-year) and although the negative revaluation result reflects the exceptional economic situation now prevailing, other positive earnings contributions made up for this.

Nine shopping centre owners in Romania, together with CBRE, have urged the Romanian Government to reopen large shopping centres as soon as possible.