Budapest-based commercial real estate investor and developer, ConvergenCE has announced the acquisition of the Central Business Center office building in the 2nd district of Budapest. ConvergenCE acquired the building in Horvát Street from Immonfinanz.

CBRE expanded its Romanian management team by recruiting Gijs Klomp as Head of Investment Properties for CBRE Romania. Gijs has over 17 years of experience in real estate and was involved in investment transactions worth more than €2.00 billion.

Irányi Palace - located in Downtown Budapest in Irányi street, between Váci and Veres Pálné streets – will rejuvenate by mid-2020 as a high quality, contemporary style office building. The property, owned by Optinvest Zrt is being rebuilt by EBH Invest, based on the plans of Pyxis Nautica Design & Build, while Colliers International has been exclusively appointed to lease the building.

Companies Iulius and Atterbury Europe have opened the Iulius Town mixed-use project in Timișoara, the largest investment in the region, adding up to a total of €442 million. Iulius Town entailed integrating Iulius Mall Timișoara into an extensive urban regeneration project, completing it with retail, office and entertainment uses.

Commercial land prices have been stable over the first half of 2019, while prices for residential sites continue their rising trend at a slower pace, according to Colliers International.

Cromwell Property Group has exercised its pre-emptive right to acquire a third-party investor interest in the Cromwell Polish Retail Fund (CPRF), which it has managed since acquiring the investment and asset manager from GE Capital Real Estate in 2013. The fund contains seven catchment dominating shopping centres with a gross asset value of circa €600 million. Since taking over the management of the fund, Cromwell has completed several major asset management initiatives including several refurbishments and expansions, as well as numerous lettings including a 170,000 sqm deal with Auchan and Schiever Polska across eight long-term leases in 2015.

CTP announced that it will complete CTPark Bor in the next five years, creating the largest industrial park in the Czech Republic with an area of ​​600,000 sqm.

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.