According to Colliers International’s latest “FDI into CEE infographic”, high numbers of Global Fortune 500 companies in the CEE-6 are being largely driven from Automotive, Industrials, Food, Beverages & Tobacco, Telecom & Media and Transportation sectors. Whilst Poland is the biggest economy, the ratio of the Fortune Global 500 companies present versus population size is much higher in Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic.

The retail sector has been heavily affected by the changes brought on by technology. Solutions such as indoor localization provide limitless opportunities for retailers wanting to stay ahead of the competition. Oren Rosen, Co-Founder of Israeli startup Infuse Location Ltd talked to Property Forum about the changing shopping experience.

JLL has been selected by White Stone Group as property manager for the Celebro office building in Warsaw. The building has already been commissioned for use and its first tenants will relocate to the project in September 2019.

Colliers International announced that Richard Urvay has been appointed as the new Managing Director for Slovakia. He starts his new position on 1 September with Ermanno Boeris stepping down as current Managing Partner of Colliers Slovakia at the end of September.

Immofinanz is driving the steady growth of its Stop Shop retail park brand, as previously announced, with a next step that includes the expansion of the portfolio to 90 locations. The most recent acquisitions include six fully rented retail parks in Slovenia and Poland with roughly 54,000 sqm of rentable space. The annual rental income based on invoiced rents amounts to approximately €6.6 million, which represents a gross return of 8.6%.

The reconstruction of Magazinului Bucuresti, the former universal shop located at the crossroads of Lipscani Street and I.C. Bratianu Boulevard in Bucharest, will be finalized by the end of this year. The new building will accommodate diverse concepts, from retail and services spaces to office, co-working or dining spaces. Colliers International Romania was assigned as exclusive agent for the leasing of the project.

As of 28 June, Samuel Šporka, Head of Leasing at JLL Bratislava branch has become a new member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. With over 130,000 qualified and trainee professionals, RICS promotes and enforces the highest international standards across the built and natural environment. 

According to JLL, the value of real estate investment transactions in Central and Eastern Europe totalled more than €5.47 billion in H1 2019. Poland is the clear front-runner accounting for €2.72 billion (almost 50% share), followed by the Czech Republic with €1.68 billion (30%). In both countries, Asian investors, particularly those from South Korea, have been remarkably active. Total volumes in Hungary amounted to €400 million, while in Romania and Slovakia total volumes hit €338 and €350 million respectively.

pbb Deutsche Pfandbriefbank provided an investment loan and a VAT facility totalling €52 million to an open-ended special alternative fund managed by Warburg-HIH Invest Real Estate. The fund will use the proceeds for the acquisition of the newly built White House office building in Budapest from developer GTC. pbb acted as arranger and sole lender under the facilities.

The Romanian real estate market recorded good results in the first half of 2019, with activity on office and investment segments getting more dynamic than that of some CEE peers. With the full-year GDP expansion figure likely to top 4%, Romania also remains an outlier in terms of economic performance when compared to other CEE economies. According to Colliers International Romania, there is a favourable perspective for the Romanian real estate market that could be maintained by year-end.