Student Depot, owned by Kajima Student Housing Limited in partnership with Griffin Real Estate Partners, announced the opening of its first facility in the university city of Gdańsk, Student Depot Kolobrzeska.

Lion’s Head Investments has announced the appointment of Anca Simionescu as Country Manager in Romania, responsible for the implementation of the Group’s strategy in the country.

A group of companies that in April 2019 filed a lawsuit in the Southern District of New York against CPI Property Group, its majority shareholder Radovan Vítek and other accused parties, are appealing against the dismissal of the case.

Etele Plaza, developed by Futureal in Budapest’s Kelenföld area, has reportedly reached an occupancy rate over 75%. The shopping centre, planned to be completed by Q3 2021, will feature every Inditex brand available in Hungary, including a Zara fashion store featuring a brand new design concept.

The I&L sector in the CEE-17 has become one of the most sought-after asset types since 2019, after offices and residential according to Colliers International, CMS and Randstad. The report revealed that some of the key challenges in this sector include the availability of land and property in locations that meet both the developers and end-user expectations, along with the availability and reliability of utilities, connectivity to transport infrastructure, the availability and skills of the labour pool, and access to investment incentives.

The Râul Doamnei - Eroilor section of the M5 metro line, inaugurated in September, will shorten the travelling time for 150,000 Bucharest inhabitants who live near the 10 newly built stations, also offering a quick travel alternative for almost 20,000 employees working in companies whose office buildings’ headquarters are located in the Eroilor - Progresului – Politechnica areas. The Râul Doamnei, Constantin Brâncuși, Valea Ialomiței and Romancierilor metro stations, located at the western end of the new metro line, each have a catchment area of between 18,000 and 22,000 people who can access the metro within a 10-minute walk, according to data from Cushman & Wakefield Echinox.

Fifth Wall, the largest venture capital firm focused on real estate technology, has partnered with BNP Paribas Real Estate to launch its business in Europe with the Fifth Wall Real Estate Technology European Fund, its first European proptech fund. The California-based company founded in 2016 has over $1.2 billion under management, raised from industry stakeholders via several funds.

As of September, Omar Sattar, a real estate professional with more than 25 years of experience in the sector at companies like DTZ, Avestus Capital Partners, and Colliers International, has taken over the management of the real estate investment team of the Czech and Slovak investment platform Crowdberry. The company now provides private investors with a greater volume of specific investment opportunities in high-quality residential projects and commercial real estate.

Panattoni is expanding in Upper Silesia. The developer has started the construction of Panattoni Park Ruda Śląska III, which will eventually have an area of 70,000 sqm. The project is in the middle of the Silesian conurbation near the A1 and A2 motorways, which will give it excellent connections to the most important towns and cities of both the region and the country.

Generali Real Estate’s Core+ Fund has acquired the IBC office building in Prague’s Karlín neighbourhood from local investor Mint Investments for €70.2 million (CZK 1.9 billion). Wilsons provided legal advice for the seller during the transaction.