CBRE expects the COVID-19 outbreak to have a negative short-term impact on certain sectors of the commercial real estate market. However, the further transmission and evolution of the virus remains difficult to predict.

Redevco aims to grow its mandates and portfolio to €10 billion by 2025 from €7.5 billion currently, by launching a drive into new real estate sectors beyond retail. Third-party investors now comprise 40% of Redevco’s capital base at €2.8 billion, compared with zero six years ago. The company is extending the opening of its investment platform to like-minded investors and will consider a variety of investment vehicles to broaden its investor base, with an initial focus on joint ventures.

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.

The International Facility Management Association (IFMA) and its alliance partner Facility Management Netherlands (FMN) have announced that in 2020 World Workplace Europe will again be held at the Kromhouthal in Amsterdam, 18 to 20 March. Property Forum is proud to support the event as media partner.

Savills Investment Management prefers long-lease income streams in 2020 instead of value-add and opportunistic strategies that depend on economic and strong employment prospects. The international real estate investment manager published its market outlook.

Värde Partners, a leading global alternative investment firm, entered into a definitive agreement to sell a portfolio of eight luxury hotels operating under The Dedica Anthology brand to Covivio, a European real estate operator, through its subsidiary Covivio Hotels. The portfolio includes New York Palace and New York Residence in Budapest and Carlo IV in Prague.

GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, has signed an agreement to acquire a pan-European logistics real estate portfolio (Maximus) from funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management, Inc., a leading global alternative investment manager, for a net consideration of approximately €950 million. This acquisition is in line with GIC’s strategy to scale up its fully-owned P3 logistics platform and reinforce P3’s position as a leading developer and manager of logistics properties in Europe. 

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. 

European office take-up is forecast to reach 9.2 million sqm by the end of 2019, down 4% from 2018’s end-year volume. Prague is expected to exceed that decline, with take-up predicted to fall by 22% to 400,000 sqm as demand for office space in the Czech capital continues the downward trend that began in Q2, according to the latest Savills research.

A Europe-wide proliferation of new eating and drinking concepts is driving demand for real estate, according to new research published by Colliers International.