Investors and clients in Poland are focusing on local shopping centres, says advisory firm Walter Herz. 

The year 2021 has recorded over 65,000 sqm of the space in newly completed retail parks. This is the highest growth of the retail space in the Czech Republic in five years. Behind this success, there is mainly the stable interest among shoppers, long-term lease contracts and tenant expansion as also a surge of interest among investors. Nevertheless, the higher costs are now slowing the construction of the new retail parks. Therefore, a boost in the demand for space and likely push up rents as well are expected, states Cushman & Wakefield in their last report.

Zacaria Group, the largest developer of logistics spaces in Sibiu, will open next year a retail park in Cisnădie, Sibiu, following an investment of more than €11 million. 

The retail market in Romania is set to expand by more than 500,000 sqm in the next four years, with 10 of the projects in the pipeline each having more than 10,000 sqm, according to  Cushman & Wakefield Echinox. 

There are strange dances around the reconstruction of the baroque Savarin Palace in the centre of Prague. The CZK 10 billion project has been approved by the city's conservationists and city councillors and the first phase of the project is already underway, according to the builders. However, the Ministry of Culture has now rejected the project, saying it would threaten the city's conservation area, the Czech News Agency (ČTK) reports. Therefore, Culture Minister Martin Baxa has a request on his desk from the construction company Crestyl to review the decision of his officials, as company spokesman Ondřej Micka confirmed to Property Forum today.

EPP has finalised the sale of its 70% stake in the Towarowa 22 mixed-use project in Warsaw to AFI Europe. It is historically one of the largest land transactions in Poland in terms of value, with the total plot value exceeding €180 million.

Fidurock, the Czech/Dutch company that owns Retail Park Trnava, has started to build phase II of the project, which is located in Western Slovakia, 44 km northeast of Bratislava. The extension of this retail park is planned to be completed by the end of this year.

LPP, the biggest clothes manufacturing company in Central and Eastern Europe and owner of the Reserved, Mohito, House, Cropp, and Sinsay brands, is implementing Singu FM, a facility and maintenance management software from Velis Real Estate Tech. The system will be deployed across the LPP’s brand sales network of over 1,600 stores in 20 countries.

EPP, the largest asset manager of retail real estate in Poland, implemented a sustainable development strategy in 2021. The company aims to conduct its business in a responsible and transparent way while reducing its environmental impact and strengthening its social commitment. Following the strategy, EPP has set targets for the years 2022-2025 and is launching its first report, giving its ESG achievements to date the framework of GRI international reporting and EPRA standards.

The footfall in Czech regional shopping centres remained almost unchanged despite the previous years of the pandemic and all the lockdowns. The turnover and the average basket increased, and the vacancy is stable. However, due to the 18-week lockdown, the year 2021 fell behind 2019 by about 15%. The biggest concern now comes from the inflation and spending cuts reported by CBRE in its regular Shopping Centre Index analysis together with the results of two surveys on customer behaviour and expected plans of retailers.