Crowdberry, an investment platform enabling private investors to invest in Czech and Slovak companies and real estate, has launched a new qualified investor real estate fund, the CB Property Investors Subfund (CBPI). The fund aims to invest €30 million over the next three years to deliver a portfolio of ca. +€75 million in total value. CBPI will focus on value-add real estate across different asset classes and will target above-market returns of 10+% p.a. for investors by unlocking and elevating the value of Czech and Slovak real estate.

Element Industrial, owned by businessman Ionuţ Dumitrescu, announces the start of a new project in Buftea Chitila area, near Bucharest. .

Oxford Properties Group has agreed to acquire pan-European investment and asset manager M7 Real Estate. The investment is in line with Oxford’s global capital allocation strategy which has seen it both enter new geographic markets and increase its weighting to the logistics, multifamily and life sciences sectors. Across the globe, Oxford is building, buying and growing world-class businesses to meet its capital allocation priorities.

Greek developer Reds has authorized its board of directors to take all necessary measures to complete the sale of the 8,000 sqm land to Vastint, at a price of €11,4 million. The land is located on Splaiul Unirii Boulevard, near the Timpuri Noi Square project, developed by Vastint.

Alina Marulis, an entrepreneur from Bucharest, is investing  €10 million euros in a boutique project of 12 villas near Băneasa forest, close to American school.

For Vienna-based investor GalCap Europe, last year was a busy one with three additional deals closed compared to 2019. Managing Partner Paul W. Hallam talked to Property Forum about the experiences of last year and shared the company’s investment strategy for 2021.

COVID-19 has had a great impact on the economy as well as consumers’ behaviour, which has naturally influenced the property market. Pandemic unexpectedly accelerated changes noticed for the last few years, such as the diminishing role of traditional shopping centres in favour of convenience retail, the boom of e-commerce market or working from home. According to Avison Young, investors have quickly accommodated to new conditions and even despite many uncertainties, investment volume has achieved third-highest level in the history – €5.3 billion.

Savills Investment Management (Savills IM) transacted more than €2.5 billion globally in 2020, including c. €2.1 billion in Europe and c. €2457 million in Asia. Globally, transactions included nearly €1.7 billion of acquisitions and €833 million of disposals, resulting in a net investment of €842 million. The firm now manages approximately €21.2 billion (over USD 25 billion) in assets under management (AuM), a company record.

On behalf of a German client, JLL’s Industrial Agency and Capital Markets Teams cooperated to sell the real estate component for a unique medical production operation in the Central Bohemian region of the Czech Republic in a 10-year sale & leaseback transaction. The asset also includes over 10,000 sqm of land with development potential.

Globally, there is set to be a 50% surge in investment into commercial real estate in the second half of the year, predicts Colliers International in its new Global Capital Markets 2021 Investor Outlook paper. In EMEA, the momentum continues in the industrial and logistics and living sectors which are less dependent on economic growth. Investors are also particularly interested in core office stock, albeit selectively, with some 32 per cent of respondents looking to invest in the sector.