Czech businessman Radovan Vítek has amassed a fortune estimated at around €4.1 billion while increasing his influence in the European property sector. Vítek holds firm control of CPI Property Group, the company he founded with assets topping €11 billion and has gradually built majority stakes in Globalworth and Immofinanz, both competing groups in Central and Eastern Europe. By purchasing controlling participations in these companies, Vítek could build his property investment empire across CEE to the tune of around €20 billion and 7 million sqm of developed space, covering every country and asset class in the region. This story is a prime example of the rise and strength of local capital in CEE, in addition to the gradual decline of influence held by Austrian companies over the region.

KGAL Investment Management GmbH & Co. KG has acquired the Fuzja Office I building in Łódź with around 22,000 square meters of rental space on behalf of a pan-European special AIF. The property is certified with the first-class sustainability rating "BREEAM Excellent" and is scheduled for completion in the second quarter of 2022. The seller of Fuzja Office I is Echo Investment S.A., one of the largest listed Polish property developers.

Brno-based investment group Portiva has acquired the SmíchOFF office building in Prague from Penta Real Estate for more than CZK 1 billion, the new owner announced on its website. The acquisition of the premium LEED Gold-certified commercial property represents another step for Portiva Group in fulfilling its vision of growth through a balanced mix of quality acquisitions.

Patrizia has divested a portfolio of three Warsaw offices totalling c. 15,400 sqm to VIG FUND a.s., a real estate vehicle of Vienna Insurance Group - one of the largest international insurance groups in Central and Eastern Europe. The price remains undisclosed.

Slovak developer Corwin, the company behind the Kvartet residential neighbourhood and the recently unveiled Vilharia project, together with Hartenberg, a Prague-based company focused on investments in Central Europe, have acquired two substantial land plots in the prime locations within the inner city.

Over €5.7 billion - this is how much investors spent on commercial real estate in Poland throughout 2021, of which in the last quarter alone, the amount attained over €2.2 billion. The latest report prepared by BNP Paribas Real Estate Poland indicates that the past year was marked by a further strengthening of the logistics and industrial sector, making up for losses by retail and the continued battle against Covid's shortage of breath in the office sector.

Savills, together with Eastdil Secured, has advised Macquarie Capital Principal Finance and Elite Partners Capital on the sale of a pan-European logistics portfolio, Elite Logistics Fund I to Blackstone European Property Income Fund (BEPIF) for €520 million.

Romanian construction and logistics company Masterbuild is investing €20 million in a logistics park spanning 16,000 sqm in the Butimanu - Dâmbovița area, near Bucharest. 

In 2021, commercial property investment volumes in CEE continued to trend upwards, increasing 6.9% on 2020. However, they still remained 15% below the five-year rolling average. Industrial and office investment activity predominated, and we saw notable evidence of price improvements with yield compression in all segments, but especially in the industrial sector, where the price growth was almost 20%. Cushman & Wakefield has summarized the 2021 investment activity in the CEE commercial real estate market.

While the future of the office industry was unpredictable in the early days of the pandemic, companies are doubling down on their investments in strategic office locations and preparing for a future in which hybrid work could become mainstream. Large employers still see the office as a central pillar of work arrangements and have made strategic acquisitions in the recent period.