For 2020, CA Immo reported increased operating profit and a positive consolidated net profit. Portfolio growth through own project completions and portfolio acquisitions in combination with the continued high occupancy rate of the investment portfolio (occupancy rate: 95%) led to a further increase in net rental income (+8% compared to the previous year) and the operating result (+14%).

COVID-19 is going away very slowly, which is putting pressure on the digitization of residential sales. Solutions that enable digital signatures, online viewings and even online selling are becoming necessary tools for residential developers, says Jakub Licak, Business Development Manager at CEE-based proptech Realpad, who’s responsible for the company's international expansion in Romania and Bulgaria. He talked to Property Forum about his experiences on the Romanian market and discussed Realpad’s expansion strategy.

Mountfield, Europe’s largest specialised retailer of garden machinery, swimming pools and home and garden equipment, has chosen the Shopping Palace centre as the site of its new store in Slovakia. Managing the shopping centre since 2013, the MVGM team has created a compact retail space for Mountfield, which covers 1,500 square metres and also includes a warehouse and suitable office space. On the occasion, MVGM summarised the state of Slovakia’s retail market.

Romanian developer One United Properties announced it received the construction permit for One Verdi Park, a new residential project in Bucharest.

Cushman & Wakefield Hospitality supported B&B Hotels in disposing of a portfolio of two hotels to Primonial REIM, a leading independent real estate asset management group based out of Paris, France.

In 2020, the total office stock of Poland’s nine largest cities grew by 6.2%, according to figures from Cushman & Wakefield. At the end of 2020, the development pipeline comprised 84 projects, most of which were underway in Warsaw, Krakow and Tricity. Due to the economic uncertainty caused by the outbreak of the pandemic, the market has seen a notable increase in office space marketed for subleasing.

GLP announced today that its new Warsaw II Logistics Centre has received its occupancy permit and leased a 6,000 sqm unit to Omida Group, one of the most recognisable TSL brands in Poland.

NIPÜF Group has completed its latest warehouse development in its Pécs industrial park, located in Southern Hungary. A long-term lease agreement had been signed for the facility, which comprises nearly 11,000 square meters. The investment volume exceeded €6.8 million (HUF 2.5 billion). The total area of logistics space developed by NIPÜF nationwide is 168,000 square meters.

VGP has launched the construction works for a new technological park near South Bohemian metropolis. VGP Park České Budějovice will be located in a commercial zone named Světlík directly at the edge of the city with excellent road and public transport links to the city centre and direct access to the D3 motorway connecting Prague with the Austrian city of Linz. On a land area of about 37 hectares, the site will offer more than 126,000 sqm of lettable area suitable for logistics and light manufacturing.

Zdeněk Tůma the former governor of the Czech National Bank (2000-2010), portfolio manager Martin Pětivoký and Martin Hubinger , the owner of residential developer Realism, have founded IRQ Funds and are launching a new fund named IRQ Residential Rental for qualified investors focused on rental housing.