In Greek mythology, Icarus flew too near to the sun, melting the wax on his wings and he plunged into the sea. According to Colliers International’s new research, this might be a correct analogy for the current state of the construction markets in CEE.

Hungarian bank OTP reportedly plans to purchase the largest real estate project from Gránit Pólus in the Slovenian capital through the acquisition of project development companies, according to local media. The Emonika project, valued at €250 million, would see the construction of 196,000 sqm of office, retail, residential and hotel space.

Local real estate developer One United Properties has started the construction of a residential project located on a 3,835 sqm land plot in Bucharest’s Timpuri Noi area, zf.ro reports.

ZFP Investments has sold the Florenc Office Center, commonly known as the KPMG HQ building, in Prague, to Shinhan Investment Corp, a Korean based investment manager. CBRE represented the vendor in the sale of the asset. The transaction constitutes the first direct real estate investment in the Czech Republic by a Korean investor.

From the beginning of January, Knight Frank has been appointed a property manager of the Kliwer office building located in Mokotow in Warsaw. Currently, the property is fully rented.

International Campus Group, a developer, investor and operator of innovative living environments for young people, has appointed Rainer Nonnengässer as Chief Executive Officer, effective January 1, 2019. The student housing and micro living expert has more than 20 years’ experience across the finance and real estate sectors. Rainer was most recently the CEO of Youniq, and previously held roles as the CEO of Micro-living at MPC Capital, which operates student apartments under the Staytoo brand, and as a Managing Director at AXA Real Estate.

Golub GetHouse and Mennica Polska S.A. obtained financing for subsequent stages of the construction of Mennica Legacy Tower in Warsaw. More than €130 million of construction credit was granted by a consortium of three banks.

In 2018, the Polish industrial market was driven by e-commerce which, in addition to generating strong take-up levels, reported new requirements regarding warehouse location and technical specifications, says Tom Listowski, Partner, Head of Industrial and Warehouse, CEE at Cresa.

Erik Drukker, who previously served as the Managing Director, Agency & Valuation, Central & Eastern Europe, has become a Member of the Board at the Polish and Czech entities of BNP Paribas Real Estate. He took his new post at the turn of November and December.

Savills has named Crosspoint Real Estate its associate in Romania as part of its continued expansion across Central and Eastern Europe. Savills and Crosspoint signed a partnership agreement in Summer 2017 with the association status taking the successful relationship to the next level. Recent instructions include advising on the sale of the Bank of Cyprus building from SIF Banat Crişana to a firm belonging to a Romanian businessman in November and securing transactions with land plots with a total value of over €60 million in 2018.