Erste Group Bank AG has appointed Patrick Zehetmayr to head the banking group’s commercial real estate business, which encompasses non-residential activities at both the stock-listed company’s holding level and at Erste Bank Oesterreich, the group’s Austrian subsidiary. In his new role, Zehetmayr is responsible for the group’s commercial real estate coverage and financing activities, as well as for the real estate leasing business of Erste Group Immorent (EGI), whose supervisory board he chairs.

CTP announced a new aggressive growth plan to achieve a portfolio size of 10 million sqm by 2023. In order to reach this ambitious goal, CTP is taking steps towards various options to further strengthen its capital base and enhance its growth prospects. The company is currently considering partnering with a strategic investor.

Although there has been a slight decline in total office demand, CBRE leased 1 million square meters of office space last year in the CEE region. For Romania’s office market, 2019 was a prolific year, with the modern stock surpassing 3 million sqm and, finally, with a reversal of classes composition: Class A became the preponderance with 53% of the total. As the main market of the country, Bucharest faced a strong demand, approximatively 386,000 sqm being leased in 2019 – an impressive 19% growth compared with 2018

According to JLL, CEE's real estate investment volume for 2019 hit €14.0 billion. Poland registered over 55% of this total (€7.7 billion) and was followed by the Czech Republic (€3.1 billion), Hungary (€1.7 billion), Slovakia (approx. €770 million), and Romania (approx. €683 million).

CPI Property Group continued to purchase Globalworth shares throughout the week. Following the recently executed transactions and an acquisition announced last week, CPI Property Group now holds 29.4% of the company’s voting rights.  

Student housing continued its record growth last year, booking over €9bn in international transactions, excluding the US. As student numbers are growing faster than supply, the asset class remains a top-4 sector prospect for investments in 2020, as shown by a recent study carried out by global research specialist Bonard.

Following an acquisition, CPI Property Group crossed the 6% shareholding threshold in Globalworth Real Estate Investments Limited.  As of 23 January 2020, CPI Property Group holds 13,391,959 shares of Globalworth, representing 6.035% of Globalworth's voting rights.

JLL has appointed Sabine Eckhardt as CEO Central Europe with effect from 1 May, 2020. In the newly created position, which includes full responsibility for Germany and Central Europe, based in Frankfurt, Sabine Eckhardt will help drive continued growth and digital transformation of the international real estate services group. She will also join JLL's EMEA Strategy Board.

With the payment transferred on 13 December, Wing has acquired a 100% stake in Lisala, which in turn owns a 56 % stake in ECHO Investment, a company listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE). This acquisition makes Wing a major real estate firm at the regional level. Supporting Echo Investment’s long-term growth program, Wing enters as a strategic investor. At the operational level, the two companies will continue to operate independently.

Poland-based proptech company Velis Real Estate Tech announced that its facility management software Singu FM has been implemented across Prologis’ EU portfolio and six U.S. markets. Prologis is a global leader in logistics real estate with a focus on investing in technology that helps customers solve their pain points and run their businesses as efficiently as possible.