Dino Polska opened 59 new stores in the first quarter of this year, compared to 16 y/y. At the end of March 2021, the chain consists of 1,532 stores, compared to 1,234 a year earlier.

Hungarian investor Diófa Asset Management has appointed new senior officials, including a new CEO, deputy CEO and chairman, the company announced. Following the recently completed acquisition of Diófa, Indotek Group expects the fund manager to secure a substantial market share in Hungary and increase its presence in the CEE region.

pbb Deutsche Pfandbriefbank has provided an investment loan facility totalling €115 million to a fund managed by the Real Estate Group of Ares Management Corporation (Ares), which will utilise the proceeds for the acquisition financing of a logistics portfolio in Poland. pbb acted as arranger and sole lender under the facility.

In 2020, we saw a significant shift in the perception of warehouses and the role they play in the economy. Investors now see them as highly valuable assets. Tomasz Lubowiecki, President of the Board at Polish logistics developer 7R talked to Property Forum about prosperity on the warehouse market, last mile logistics and difficulties around nearshoring.

CTP has acquired 17.9 hectares of land in northern Bucharest for an undisclosed sum. The land was bought from two businessmen who were planning to invest €50 million in a logistics project. 

Online retailer eMAG will invest €1.5 million in upgrading its HQ building to accommodate the hybrid work system as it aims to make the program permanent for more than 3,000 employees. The HQ will be transformed into a collaborative workspace and will be fitted with technology systems that support the mix of office and remote work.  

Real estate developer One United Properties says that it secured the construction permit for 850 apartments that will be part of mixed-used project One Cotroceni Park. The project is developed on 5.8 hectares of land, on the former Ventilatorul industrial platform in Bucharest. 

Just one month ago, we reported that February 2021 had been the strongest month for the past ten years with regard to the number of transactions in the Hungarian housing market. It now appears that the record was short-lived as there were 15,630 residential property deals nationwide in March according to the latest monthly transaction estimate of real estate group Duna House. The figure is more than 1,000 higher than in February.

Retailer Penny, controlled by German group REWE, will install photovoltaic (PV) panels on the roof of its warehouses in Romania. The renewable energy systems will be implemented in Turda and Ștefănești.  

German carmaker Mercedes-Benz is boosting its logistics operations in Romania. Construction firm Plana-Innova was selected to build its new centre that will have a maximum storage capacity for 45,000 products.