M7 Real Estate has acquired a further circa. €20 million of assets in Budapest, on behalf of its first Central European fund for third party investors, M7 CEREF I. This follows the Fund completing its final close, reaching its target raise of €60 million of investor capital in April 2017, as well as the agreement of a €68.5 million senior debt facility with Starwood European Real Estate Finance.
M7 has acquired the Liget Center office building in Budapest from a fund managed by CBRE Global Investors. The property offers 10,863 sqm of multi-let office space in the centre of Budapest, overlooking Városliget Park and provides additional stable income from a range of international tenants, as well as the opportunity to add further value through the renovation and leasing of the 3,779 sqm auditorium space.
In addition, M7 has acquired a 24,598 sqm multi-tenanted industrial property in Gödöllő, from Omega Real Estate Fund. Located circa. 30 km from the centre of Budapest, the property is currently 85% occupied to three international tenants, and M7 plans to add value through negotiating lease prolongations with existing tenants as well as repositioning of underutilised and void space.
David Ebbrell, Chief Investment Officer at M7 said, "As we continue to expand into CEE, these acquisitions are a further demonstration of the value that we see in the region, having now closed on a total of €84 million of assets on behalf of M7 CEREF I. We have identified a further pipeline of acquisitions, and anticipate closing a further significant transaction in the near term."
The Hungarian branch of Tech Mahindra has prolonged its lease in the CityZen office building in Budapest. OTIS Group has also signed an extension of its lease on the same property.
Poland's only concept store of the fashion brand PRM can now be visited at Fabryka Norblin, a complex in the Capital Park Group's portfolio in Warsaw. The PRM store occupies an area of nearly 600 sqm.
Douglas is opening its 150th perfumery in Poland, in Galeria Starówka in Leszno (western Poland). The new perfumery occupies an area of 196 sqm and is the second perfumery in the city.
New appointments
Piotr Herian has taken up the position of ISS CFO for Poland and the Baltics. ISS is a leading company in the creation of friendly workplaces and comprehensive facilities management.
Paulina Strutyńska has been promoted to the position of Leasing & Asset Director at Skanska’s commercial development business unit. She is now responsible for leasing processes in the Warsaw market as well as Key Customer Management. Agnieszka Krawczyk-Rogowska is responsible for project commercialization and client liaison in Gdańsk, Kraków, and Bucharest, while Marek Stasieńko is responsible for the Wrocław, Poznań, and Łódź markets.
The Supervisory Board of Globe Trade Centre S.A. has appointed Balázs Gosztonyi as a member of the Management Board of GTC S.A. Balázs Gosztonyi has held the position of Chief Financial Officer at GTC Hungary since January 2024. He joined GTC Group in September 2023 as Group Controlling Director.
In 2024, the total investment volume in Poland amounted to €364 million, marking the weakest result for the first quarter in recent years. Interestingly, 25% of the invested capital comes from Polish investors. The warehouse sector remains the leader, accounting for 38% of the total investment volume. Unchanged, the vast majority of office transactions took place in Warsaw, while commercial investments were dominated by retail parks. Additionally, the market also saw two transactions in the residential sector in Warsaw, and two hotels were sold in seaside tourist cities, says Paulina Brzeszkiewicz-Kuczyńska, Research and Data Manager at Avison Young.
The 4-day workweek is becoming an increasingly hot topic. Although in Poland it still appears to be a thing of the future, recent years have shown how quickly labour market trends are changing. AI is also broadly expected to have a significant effect on the workplace. BNP Paribas Real Estate experts are wondering, how will all of this impact the commercial real estate market.
The vacancy rate at the end of Q1 2024 reached 8.9% in Greater Budapest, representing a 0.3 percentage points increase quarter-on-quarter, while an increase of 3 percentage points was registered year-on-year, the Budapest Research Forum reports.
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