A huge increase in urban logistics property space is required across key centers in Europe in the next few years to meet the exponential growth of e-commerce and the resultant need for last mile delivery in cities, according to a new research report from Cushman & Wakefield.

Noerr has advised IDI Gazeley on the sale of its European division. In October Global Logistic Properties (GLP), Asia’s biggest warehouse operator, entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Gazeley, a premier developer, owner and operator of modern logistics facilities in Europe for approximately €2.4 billion.

Soaring rents have seen London’s New Bond Street rise to become the world’s third most expensive retail street, while New York’s Upper 5th Avenue and Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay retain their first and second place rankings, according to Cushman & Wakefield. Prague’s Na Příkopě Street has improved its position from last year’s 23rd to the current 22nd in a chart of the 68 most expensive high streets.

Patrizia Immobilien AG has acquired Triuva Kapitalverwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, significantly expanding its business in Germany and Europe. Both parties agreed to not disclose the purchase price.

The markets of Budapest, Bucharest, and Warsaw, in addition to Milan and Oslo, offer the most amenable conditions for both lenders and borrowers, according CBRE’s research.

Total real estate investment in Europe reached €74 billion in Q2 2017, representing a 25% increase on the same period last year, according to CBRE. Central Europe as a region proves to be more attractive to international investors than last year with Hungary accounting 15% of the overall investment volume.

Resilient European economies, the continued popularity of Mediterranean leisure destinations and Europe’s importance for business travellers, should drive hotel occupancy and revenues in 2017, according to the latest PwC European Cities Hotel Forecast. Most European cities, including Budapest and Prague, are expected to see additional revenue growth in 2018.

BNP Paribas Real Estate generated revenues of €704 million in 2016 and announced a net profit of €155 million before tax. Nearly half (43%) of revenues came outside of France. 

Buildings account for over 40% of energy consumption in Europe, of which   around 75% are not energy efficient. This illustrates the importance of obtaining sustainable development certificates for both newly-developed and existing buildings. Their energy efficiency is assessed based on modeling and energy simulations. However, so far, there has not been any analysis regarding the actual energy consumption of a building: what is the impact of the implementation of innovative systems, appropriate management, specifications and the expected level of the users’ comfort on the building energy performance? These issues have been thoroughly addressed in the first study in Europe, conducted by Skanska, Go4Energy and Cushman & Wakefield, which analyses office buildings in Poland.

Panattoni Europe is developing a fifth logistics centre for Amazon. The new facility featuring 135,000 sqm is being built in Sosnowiec in the region of Upper Silesia. Completion of the project is planned for October 2017.