According to Cushman & Wakefield, commercial real estate investment activity in the core Central European markets of Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania reached €6.05 billion in the first three quarters of 2016, a 37% increase y-o-y, albeit with reduced activity during the third quarter. Investment in the CE region slipped back following a strong second quarter. The volume of assets traded totalled €1.4bn in Q3 2016, down over 20% a year ago and half Q2 volumes.

At the end of September 2016 total modern warehouse stock in Poland stood at 10,920,000 sqm. Occupier and developer activity is expected to continue its strong momentum, as revealed by global real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield in its latest Polish Industrial Market Q3 2016 report.

Staamp Poland Sp. z o.o., a manufacturer of plastic components for the automotive industry, will add 2,600 sqm to its manufacturing facility in Błonie near Warsaw. Brica Group Sp. z o.o. is the general contractor of the project. Global real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield represented Staamp Poland.

The commercialization of Gdańsk’s Galeria Metropolia, which is scheduled to open on 22-23 October, is nearing completion. Fourteen new tenants include fashion stores, cafés and services. Cushman & Wakefield  acted as the agent on the lease agreements.

Inforsys, a business process outsourcing operator in Poland, is expanding its offer of comprehensive logistics services under a lease agreement with Panattoni Europe that will continue until July 2020. Inforsys will take up 10,000 sqm of warehouse space dedicated to e-commerce companies with an option to extend the lease by another 10,000 sqm. Inforsys will process orders in the facilities which will also be used as a second mass printing and envelope stuffing location in addition to the Radzymin operational centre. Cushman & Wakefield acted as the agent on the transaction.

Park Atrium – one of the most recognisable Budapest office buildings, leased to Deloitte, ING and Roche - was sold last week. German-based Asset Manager Corpus Sireo - on behalf of one of their managed accounts - has purchased the building from Accession Fund managed by GLL Real Estate Partners for an undisclosed price believed to be in excess of €50 million.

The Polish branch of Berner, a European direct seller, has signed a lease for more than 2,900 sqm of warehouse and office space in Panattoni Park Kraków III. The developer Panattoni was represented by Cushman & Wakefield.

At the end of H1 2016, Poland’s office stock totalled 8.7 million sqm. Warsaw remains the largest office market with Kraków, Wrocław and Tricity becoming major regional office hubs. Nearly 572,000 sqm of modern office space was delivered onto the Polish market in H1 2016, setting a new semi-annual record. Cushman & Wakefield its newest report, Property Times: Office Market In A Growth Phase.

Cushman & Wakefield represented one of the most dynamically growing ‘CEP’ (Courier, Express and Parcel) market participant, DPD Hungary Ltd. with their lease transaction to open up a 3,000 sqm distribution centre in Budapest. 

Construction commenced on GTC Hungary’s latest office development project. GTC White House is going to have a GLA of 21,500 sqm and is expected to be completed by end-2017. Concurrently, GTC Hungary will carry out a full interior refurbishment and technical reconstruction at Duna Tower Office.