Student housing continued its record growth last year, booking over €9bn in international transactions, excluding the US. As student numbers are growing faster than supply, the asset class remains a top-4 sector prospect for investments in 2020, as shown by a recent study carried out by global research specialist Bonard.

Commerz Real has created a new Impact Investment division and named a new Head of Sustainability. The asset manager intends to place its focus to a greater degree than in the past on capital investments whose returns are not measured solely in terms of economic success, but also with a view to their positive impact on society and the environment.

CA Immo has tapped the Eurobond market for the first time and successfully placed a €500 million fixed rate senior unsecured benchmark bond with a 7-year maturity and an annual coupon of 0.875% on 28 January 2020. The bond will trade on the Official Market of the Vienna Stock Exchange. The international rating agency Moody’s Investors Service Ltd. has assigned an investment grade rating of Baa2 to the bond.

Colliers International Czech Republic announced the appointment of Tereza Nemcova as Director of the Human Resources department, in line with the company’s plan to expand its headcount, as well as its footprint throughout the Czech Republic.

Christie & Co recently launched their new report focusing on the hostel markets in Vienna, Prague and Budapest. The report shows an overview of the business model itself, key characteristics, the evolution of the hostel concept and gives a deeper insight of the mentioned markets: Vienna, Prague and Budapest, in terms of demand, supply and especially branded supply.

CPI Property Group announced the acquisition of the Green Corner A office building in Warsaw.  The property was acquired from DWS Group, one of the world's largest asset managers and a significant investor in commercial real estate in the CEE region.

7R is the first warehouse developer in Poland to create an innovative eco-friendly warehouse – 7R Green. The company's main goal is to provide facilities in which ecological solutions will help minimize their impact on the natural environment. Construction of the first warehouse, designed in keeping with the new green concept, will start in the first half of the year.

Segro plc, in its role as venture advisor to the Segro European Logistics Partnership (SELP), has acquired Panattoni City Logistics Wrocław I - two buildings with a total area of 38,000 sqm. Advisors from JLL represented Segro within the transaction.

The Neopark office complex, one of the flagship investments of Yareal Polska, is now fully leased, with companies such as Play, Inpost, New Work, Olympus and Mitsubishi opening their offices in the buildings’ 24,000 sqm of space. Experts from JLL were responsible for the commercialization of the project.

Overall in 2019, total gross take-up on the Prague office market reached 439,000 sqm, representing a decrease of 18% in year-on-year comparison. The Prague Research Forum announced the office market figures for Q4 2019.