In 2017 20 new foreign retail brands entered Poland and over 330,000 sqm of shopping centre space were delivered to market. The retail transaction volume exceeded €1.9 billion. JLL highlighted the results on the retail market in Poland for 2017.

The 145-room ibis Styles Budapest Airport Hotel, the first airport hotel in Hungary with a direct terminal connection, constructed in a development project by Wing, opened for business at the beginning of January. The 6,600 sqm hotel is located approximately 200 m from Terminal 2, and is connected to it by a covered walkway.

Intercontinental Hotels Group announced the opening of Holiday Inn Warsaw City Centre. Located on the border of Śródmieście and Wola at the junction of Żelazna, Złota and Twarda Streets, the hotel has 256 rooms.

MCAP Global Finance, the London-based subsidiary of global investment manager Marathon Asset Management, has acquired the Népliget Center office building in Budapest on behalf of its funds and managed accounts. The transaction price has not been disclosed. The buyer was advised by Lodge & Partners, which will oversee the local asset management of the building.

WDP is reinforcing its capital in the Romanian entity, being a 51/49 joint venture partnership with Jeroen Biermans up until now. After the capital increase the ownership ratio of the shareholders will evolve towards an 80/20 ratio. This should facilitate the further portfolio growth towards €500 million.

Griffin Real Estate has changed its organisational and management structure, propertynews.pl reports. Founder and former CEO Przemyslaw Krych has sold its stake in Griffin Real Estate, having previously resigned from all positions held in the company and related entities. The move follows Krych’s detainment by Poland’s Central Anticorruption Bureau in December on unspecified charges. 

From its handover in January 2018, Cushman & Wakefield has been assigned with the property management of the 15,647 sqm Váci Greens D office building developed by Atenor.

JLL has appointed Peter Nitschneider as Country Manager of its Slovak business, based in Bratislava, with effect from 1 January 2018.

The Polish retail market witnessed a large number of interesting developments throughout 2017. Magdalena Sadal, Head of Retail Research and Advisory at Cresa Poland presented an outlook for 2018.

Revetas Capital Advisors LLP and Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. and its affiliates announced the acquisition of Project Nemo, a leading hotel complex with approximately 86,000 sqm of gross leasable area in a prime location in Bucharest, Romania. The complex includes the Radisson Blu and Park Inn hotels, featuring a total of 697 guest rooms operated by the Rezidor Hotel Group, as well as approximately 7,500 sqm of prime retail space anchored by high-end tenants such as Burberry and Hugo Boss.