The opening of the Courtyard Marriott Hotel in Brno, Czech Republic, built by CTP at Spielberk has been set to take place in the autumn. 

Atrium European Real Estate Limited, an owner and manager of shopping centres and retail real estate in Central and Eastern Europe, has announced its results for the second quarter and six months ended 30 June 2016.

Investment into Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries (excluding Russia) for H1 2016 registered a substantial increase (59%) compared to same period of last year, surpassing €5 billion. Expectations are that for the entire year, investment volumes will reach and exceed the record volumes of 2015 with all CEE countries expected to perform strongly, says CBRE.

Gross take-up on the Czech Republic industrial market reached 349,300 sqm showing an increase of 11% on the Q1 2016 figures. The Industrial Research Forum has announced its final industrial market figures for Q2 2016.

According to Cushman & Wakefield, robust commercial real estate investment activity in the core Central European markets of Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania continued in the second quarter of 2016 and reached EUR 2.6 billion, a 56% increase on Q1. This has pushed volumes over the last twelve months to EUR 9.3 billion, close to 2007 record levels.

Mitiska REIM, an investor specialised in European retail parks, has tannounced the successful second closing of its First Retail International 2 Fund (FRI 2) close to €190 million, significantly exceeding its original target of €120 to 150 million.  Allowing for gearing of 50%, the Fund’s gross investment capability is now close to €400 million.

Rockcastle, a listed retail property company, has acquired Forum Liberec from British retailer Tesco for approx. 80 milionl EUR. Forum Liberec is a regional shopping centre located in the heart of Liberec, the capital of the North Bohemia region. The 47,000 sqm centre is tenanted by strong retailers including: Tesco, Cinema City, C&A, Datart, Gant, H&M, Lindex, New Yorker, Nord Blanc, Norma, ProBest, Reserved, Sportissimo and Tiger. 

Cushman & Wakefield has published its new CE industrial map to give a comprehensive overview of the most important logistics and industrial sites in Central Europe, Russia and Germany. In addition, this year’s edition has been expanded with figures for Italy’s Milan.

“Total commercial real estate investment in the Czech Republic recorded €490m in Q2 2016 contributing to an H1 2016 total of €950 million, a 26% reduction on the same period of last year. However, it should be noted that the considerable difference is due to the Palladium shopping centre transaction in H1 2015. When excluded, H1 2016 was 34% up on H1 2015,” says Jiri Horak, investment analyst at JLL.     

Central European commercial property markets are expected to attract even more investors than last year and the competition among countries is fiercer than ever. What does it take to change lost lasting perceptions and secure interest from international buyers? Andy Thompson MRICS, Director of Investment Services at Colliers International talked to us in Bratislava about recent developments on the Czech and Slovakian markets.