German fashion retailer Peek&Cloppenburg has leased 5,200 sqm in the extension of the AFI Palace Cotroceni shopping mall in Bucharest. Extension work to add 6,800 sqm of GLA to the mall is to be completed in May, bringing the total leasable area up to approximately 90,000 sqm. Peek&Cloppenburg’s new store is set to open this autumn.

The Budapest office of CBRE has been appointed property manager and leasing agent of M7 Real Estate’s new Hungarian property portfolio. M7 Real Estate has acquired two retail centres, the Atom Center in Paks and Csillagvár in Budapest, and the Acélforma industrial hall in Dunaharaszti. The British investor has commissioned CBRE with the management and leasing of almost 22,000 sqm of GLA.

Immofinanz is continuing the expansion of its Stop Shop retail park chain in Serbia. Three new locations will be added in Požarevac, Lazarevac and Vršac, with a total of 23,800 sqm of rentable space. The individual projects are in different stages, but should all be completed before the end of 2017. 

Knight Frank has been appointed leading agent by Skanska to commercialize the retail ground floors of all five buildings of the High5ive complex in Kraków. The project developed by Skanska Property Poland will be handed over for use in stages. The first stage, which will include two buildings right next to the Galeria Krakowska shopping centre, is scheduled for the end of 2017. 

2016 was marked by the wait for the Posnania shopping centre to open, with its 60,000 sqm of Gross Leasable Area (GLA). However, next year we will see the opening of as many as three buildings with an area of over 60,000 sqm of GLA: Galeria Północna in Warsaw, Wroclavia and Forum Gdańsk.

In 2016 the Romanian retail market was characterized by a high volume of delivered space and entry of new brands, which opened their first shops both in already existing shopping centers and in recently opened projects. Colliers International expects to see new names on the market, especially among Polish brands.

Cushman & Wakefield was appointed manager of Galeria Orkana in Lublin. The shopping centre is owned by real estate group CPI Property Group. Galeria Orkana is a two-level shopping centre located in Lublin at the junction of Władysława Orkana and Zwycięska streets. It offers building area of 17,000 sqm of floor space for about 50 retail stores, restaurants and service outlets of top brands. It also provides 220 underground and surface parking spaces. Constructed in 2006, Galeria Orkana has been managed by Cushman & Wakefield since August 2016.

As of November 1 2016, Cushman & Wakefield has been appointed to undertake property management and leasing services at Mammut Shopping and Entertainment Centre in Budapest. The over 104 000 sqm, Mammut Shopping and Entertainment Centre,comprising two phases, is the largest shopping centre in Buda, with over 350 units and parking premises. The first phase, Mammut I. was handed over in 1998, the second phase, Mammut II. was delivered in 2001. 

HB Reavis has officially opened the Czech Republic’s first Aupark in Hradec Kralove. The 21,000 sqm shopping centre brings 120 stores, new international brands, a large food court and various service and entertainment units to the city.

Large leases and the rebranding of City Center Sofia marked the Bulgarian retail property market in the third quarter. The demand for prime space remained strong fuelled by the increasing consumption in the main cities, while the supply didn’t change. Fashion and shoes, as well as health & beauty were the most rapidly growing categories in terms of new stores. The FMCG sector was driven mainly by the appetite of the fast growing retailers to occupy the niche vacated with the exit of Carrefour and Penny Market, as well as the reorganisation of Piccadilly. Forton has published its Bulgaria retail market snapshot for Q3 2016.