Local investor DRFG, through its Czech Real Estate Investment Fund, has acquired the Olomouc CITY shopping centre from Mint Investments. With this acquisition, DRFG manages the first primarily leisure-oriented property in its portfolio.

Invest4SEE has sold the second phase of the Invest4SEE Industrial Park Dubnica to REICO’s ČS nemovitostní fond for around €9.5 million. CBRE represented Invest4SEE in the negotiations.

Skanska has acquired about 26,200 square meters of land in Bucharest, Romania, from Intero Property Development Estates SRL. The total investment amounts to €24 million.

Polish modular producer Polcom will be able to expand its operations thanks to a financial package provided by a consortium of banks to which the EBRD is contributing PLN 108.43 million (€25 million equivalent).

For the first three quarters of 2019, the CEE region has recorded an investment volume of ca. €9 billion. Offices dominate the deal flows with a 58% share, followed by a much slower retail sector with 18%, industrial & logistics (9%) and hotels (8%).

The Greenline office building, located in the heart of the Prague 4 business district, has been purchased by WOOD & Company from property developer Karimpol International. WOOD & Company’s real estate funds invest in commercial real estate (office buildings and shopping centres), and are among the best-performing funds in the market. With the acquisition of The Greenline, the market value of the fund's assets has exceeded €500 million.

The market value of office buildings in the Czech Republic and in Prague, in particular, has continued growing as a result of steady demand and insufficient supply. Yields from premium office schemes in Prague currently range around 4.3 percent. Aggregate investments in commercial properties in the Czech Republic for the first three quarters of 2019 amounted to €2.5 billion (almost CZK 64 billion), according to Cushman & Wakefield.

VGP NV and Allianz Real Estate, acting on behalf of several Allianz Group companies, announced a successful sixth closing with its 50:50 joint venture, VGP European Logistics. The transaction comprises 13 logistic buildings, including 7 buildings in 3 new VGP parks and another 6 newly completed logistic buildings which were developed in parks previously transferred to the Joint Venture.

According to the latest RICS Commercial Property Monitor, occupier and investment sentiment remains positive across main CEE markets, even though the Czech Republic has posted its most subdued set of readings in four years. In many countries, demand for retail assets fell on both the occupier and investment sides of the market. Based on rental and capital value projections, secondary retail is visibly suffering in Austria, Bulgaria, Poland and Romania.

There’s a lot of capital targeting real estate in Central & Eastern Europe but finding the right investment product remains a huge challenge. Panellists of the CEE investment panel at Portfolio Property Investment Forum 2019 in Budapest discussed the risks investors in the region need to keep in mind.