Hungary’s Horizon Development has been granted a development loan by UniCredit for its ongoing Szervita Square mixed-use development in the centre of Budapest. At the same time, the developer has pre-leased all four office floors (8,500 sqm) of the project to coworking space provider Spaces.

The Budapest office market enjoyed a dynamic year in terms of gross take-up, equating to nearly 535,000 sqm of office space transacted, effectively in line with the record year of 2015 which saw circa 538,000 sqm.

Bluehouse completed the acquisition of Novodvorska Plaza shopping centre in Prague. CBRE represented the buyer in the off-market acquisition of the 25,000 sqm shopping centre.

ZFP Investments has sold the Florenc Office Center, commonly known as the KPMG HQ building, in Prague, to Shinhan Investment Corp, a Korean based investment manager. CBRE represented the vendor in the sale of the asset. The transaction constitutes the first direct real estate investment in the Czech Republic by a Korean investor.

Tatra Asset Management (TAM) has acquired a portfolio of nine regional retail parks in Slovakia. The seller, which was represented by CBRE, is KLM Real Estate (KLMre). The transaction also includes the pre-emptive right for other retail parks that the developer is currently preparing.

The European property sector is expected to grow and bring new opportunities, despite continued downside risks, according to CBRE’s 2019 EMEA Market Outlook report.

Retailer demand for physical store space will remain steadfast throughout a number of key retail markets over the next five years, with the Health and Beauty sector leading the way in driving future growth requirements according to global real estate advisor CBRE.

German funds have always been one of the main players on the investment market in Poland and the CEE region. However, in recent years their share in transaction volume has been decreasing. Currently, they stand at around 15% of the total value invested annually. New entrants from the USA, Asia and South Africa have increased competition for commercial property in the region. Poland and the Czech Republic are still the CEE markets of choice for German investors seeking to locate their capital in commercial real estate.

Immofinanz is driving the expansion of its Stop Shop retail park brand and has now purchased eight retail parks in Slovenia, Serbia and Croatia. The purchase price totals approximately €90.5 million. The newly acquired properties are fully rented and generate an annual rental income of roughly €7.2 million, which represents a gross return of 8.0%. These transactions increase Immofinanz’s Stop Shop portfolio to 80 locations in nine countries with over 567,000 sqm of rentable space and a carrying amount of approx. €800 million. Further acquisitions are currently under evaluation, and two Stop Shops in Poland and Serbia are now in the active development phase.

According to CBRE, the global property investment volume increased 3.6% year-to-date (YTD), compared to the same period of last year, with Q3 up by 1.2% (in fixed exchange rates). Taking account of last year’s strong appreciation of the U.S. dollar, global investment volume grew by a greater 5.9% YTD.