Retail parks have been the biggest beneficiaries of the structural retail changes in Poland over the last ten years. Their number has doubled and increased their share in total retail stock by 4 pps. In H1 2020, developers completed nearly 148,000 sqm of modern retail space in large scale projects (GLA>5,000 sqm). Of this new supply, 67% was delivered in the shape of eight new retail parks and three extensions of existing schemes. Almost 450,000 sqm of GLA is still under construction with initial completion dates set for 2020 and 2021. Retail parks account for nearly 26% of this volume. JLL and Trei Real Estate Poland summarised the situation regarding these projects at the end of H1 2020, and outlined the development prospects for this commercial real estate sector in Poland.

Six investors, representing the most active players of the Slovak property market, discussed the experiences of the pandemic period and shared future strategies at Bratislava Property Forum 2020, an annual event co-organised by Property Forum and RICS.

Austrian developer Supernova has laid the foundation stone for a €70 million project aimed at the expansion of the Supernova Ljubljana Rudnik shopping centre in Ljubljana. Upon the completion of the project, Supernova Ljubljana Rudnik will become the biggest shopping centre in Slovenia.

Asset manager M7 Real Estate has assigned Cushman & Wakefield to take over the management of Hamburk Business Center, an office building in Plzeň. The building is owned by the BHS Real Estate Fund.

HB Reavis Group is launching the sale of a new bond issue through Slovenská sporiteľňa. Bonds with a nominal value of €1,000, a maturity of 4 years and a coupon of 3.35% pa are issued by HB REAVIS Finance SK VII sro, a subsidiary of the HB Reavis Group.

Romanian real estate developer One United Properties has completed a capital increase process worth €25 million by selling part of its One Cotroceni Park urban regeneration project, currently under construction in Bucharest. The amount raised is to be invested in the further development of the project.

With over 42,000 sqm of modern office space due for completion in 2020, Brno should receive one of the biggest additions of office space in recent years. Ostrava, on the other hand, hasn’t seen supply growth in several quarters and currently, there are no new office buildings under construction in the city. Colliers International has published its regional office market overview of the Czech Republic for H1 2020, focused on Brno and Ostrava.

Speedwell has designated Bog’Art as the general contractor in charge of Miro, the company’s newest office project located in the Băneasa area of Bucharest. Miro project will offer its tenants 23,000 sqm of Class A office space spread out over 5 levels. The project has been granted the building permit and works have already started.

Cavatina Holding has acquired the Widzewska Manufaktura revitalisation project in Łódź for €90 million (PLN 400 million). The seller of the approximately 4 ha site at Piłsudskiego 135 with its 19th-century industrial buildings was a company headed and co-founded by Stanisław Zaręba, represented in the transaction by Deloitte.

Germany and Central Eastern Europe (CEE) reported investment turnover growth across commercial real estate in H1 2020, despite the effects of COVID-19 in Q2, according to the latest Savills European Investment Spotlight.