MAS has entered an agreement for the disposal of all its strip malls in Romania to M Core Group for €49 million. The deal pending approval from local authorities could be completed by March 2025.

According to Savills research, European retail investment volumes reached €19 billion for Q1 to Q3 2024, marking a 6% increase compared to the same period last year. Luxury high street yields are the most favourable among retail investment properties.

NEPI Rockcastle, the largest owner of shopping centers in Romania, aims to cover its electricity consumption exclusively from renewable sources by the end of 2026.

Property investor Alfi Real Estate Fund has expanded its portfolio with the acquisition of Planet Koper shopping mall in Slovenia, the company announced on LinkedIn.

Turawa Park shopping centre near Opole (southern Poland), owned by Focus Estate Fund since 2022, is steadily focusing on development and modernisation to meet the expectations of both customers and tenants. As part of the reconstruction, approximately 9,000 sqm GLA of space has been redesigned and enhanced. The project’s total cost was €5.5 million, with financing partially secured through BNP Paribas Bank.

Corwin is planning to reconstruct the building of the former bakery mill in its development and revitalisation of the Palma factory brownfield in Bratislava. The building coming from the 1930s is among the four industrial constructions that Corwin expects to preserve and restore. 

EPG Group is opening a new part of the Varyáda shopping centre in the Karlovy Vary region on November 29 and 30. This extension is the first phase of the Varyáda renovation, due to be completed before Christmas 2025.

The disposable income gap between CEE economies, which are enjoying solid economic expansion, and stagnating Western European countries is narrowing fast. This is buoying consumer spending in markets like Poland and Romania and attracting international and regional retailers to large modern shopping centres that dominate the CEE’s shopping and experience landscapes, while also offering higher margins and lower costs, NEPI Rockcastle’s latest research concludes.

Bucharest-based Calea Victoriei, the main retail street in Romania, boasts a prime monthly rental level of €60 per sqm, which was 9% higher compared with last year, according to a Cushman & Wakefield report.

In Q3 2024, the Polish retail market expanded by another 116,000 sqm. With average retail vacancy rates in the largest Polish cities falling and tenants posting rising turnover levels, predictions of the imminent decline of shopping centres in Poland have proven premature, says BNP Paribas Real Estate Poland in its latest report.