Labour shortage and rising costs in construction are problems developers in CEE have had to learn to live with over the past years. Dr. Zoltán Nádasdy MRICS, Partner, Head of CEE Real Estate Investments Group at Noerr talked to Property Forum about the legal challenges investors and developers face on the Hungarian, Romanian and Polish markets.

pbb Deutsche Pfandbriefbank provided an investment loan and a VAT facility of €90 million in total to two real estate funds managed by Credit Suisse Asset Management. The funds will utilise the proceeds for the acquisition of the prime office building Astoria in Warsaw from the developer Strabag. pbb acted as arranger and sole lender under the facilities.

Atenor announced that an agreement has been reached for the sale of the fifth Váci Greens Building to a Hungarian private fund set up by MEFG Zrt. The delivery of the Váci Greens E building, which is being sold in a future state of completion, is scheduled for September 2020.

Immofinanz assigned Novaston to support the opening of their Stop Shop retail park in Sremska Mitrovica. All four Novaston platform sister companies were involved in the services. Novaston Asset Management supported with leasing services, while Novaston Facility Management assisted with technical support. Moreover, Novaston Project Management helped organizing tenant coordination, while Novaston Marketing Consultancy was involved with the opening event and marketing promotion.

KGAL has acquired the DRN office building in Prague for a pan-European special real estate Alternative Investment Fund (AIF). The purchase is in line with KGAL’s strategy of Europe-wide diversification across prime locations, and is its first investment in the Czech Republic. The fund now holds properties in Germany, Austria, Ireland, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland and the Czech Republic.

The first half of 2019 witnessed two new office completions in Szczecin totalling nearly 3,500 sqm, whilst another 27,300 sqm is expected to be added to the city’s stock by the end of this year.

Skanska has sold two office buildings in Poland – Nowy Targ in Wroclaw and High5ive in Krakow –to real estate funds managed by Credit Suisse Asset Management Global Real Estate.

CBRE has been mandated by CA Immo to provide property management services for the Campus 6.1 office building, located in the central-western area of Bucharest, being the first time when CA Immo outsources property management services for a project in its portfolio.

JLL is entering the residential market in Romania by launching the Living department within the Bucharest office. The new department, which will provide consulting services for the residential sector, will be led by Andreea Hamza as Senior Director.

Colliers International announced the appointment of Andy Hay as its new Head of EMEA Real Estate Management Services (REMS) effective immediately. In this new role, Andy will focus on driving the continued growth and success of the firm’s REMS division; improving client experience, developing relationships and optimising its EMEA service delivery model.