In 2017, investments in the Czech Republic totalled €3,274 million as indicated by a Cushman & Wakefield report. Contrary to expectations, they declined only slightly compared with 2016, which was a record year. The biggest transactions in 2017 included the sale of Olympia Brno, the CBRE GI portfolio (Nisa Liberec, Zlatý Anděl and Olympia Plzeň), Metropole Zličín and of the Letňany shopping centre.

Property investment volume for Romania is estimated at almost €1 billion last year, a value ca.10% higher than the one registered in 2016 (€890 million). Romania accounted for 8% of the total investment volume recorded in the CEE region (€12.98 billion, a 3.3% increase over 2016). The growth of the Romanian market exceeds the increase of the CEE volumes, but the local market is still under its potential, according to JLL.

ZFP Investments, the Czech-based subsidiary of Slovak IAD Investments, has concluded the acquisition of the Kotlarska 11 office building in Kraków on behalf of ZFP Real Estate Fund. This marks the investor’s entry into the Polish market.

JLL has represented Grupa Buma on the sales transaction of the DOT Office complex. The project was acquired by Golden Star Estate, an Amsterdam-based investment firm. The value of the transaction is confidential.

FLE GmbH, a company of the LFPI group, has acquired two new office properties in Budapest on behalf of the Luxemburg based fund FLE SICAV FIS. The parties to the transaction have agreed not to disclose the purchase price and other details.

Union Investment has secured the future Holiday Inn Gdansk City Centre hotel at an early stage by way of a forward purchase agreement. The hotel will have 240 rooms and be located on Gdańsk’s historic Granary Island. Completion and the transfer of rights and obligations are scheduled for mid-2019. The project has been acquired for the portfolio of one of Union Investment’s institutional funds.

Diófa Asset Management has acquired the Infopark A office building from CA Immo at the end of 2017. Representing Magyar Posta Takarék Real Estate Investment Fund, Diófa Alapkezelő Zrt. bought a 14 000 sqm Class A office building. The seller was represented by Colliers International in this sales transaction.

In the next two years Delta Holding plans to invest €600 million in real estate projects in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Bulgaria.

pbb Deutsche Pfandbriefbank provided an investment facility of €41.4 million to companies owned by a professional private real estate investor and managed by development and investment company Amesbury s.r.o. The funds will be used to refinance the Zlicin and Chrastany business parks near Prague. Thereby pbb extended the maturity of its financing by another five years. The transaction closed in December 2017.

P3 has acquired a second logistics park near Lovosice, in the Ústí region of the Czech Republic, from HB Reavis. The new park, to be known as P3 Lovosice Cargo, comprises a single 43,500 sqm warehouse which is fully let to a long-term occupier and houses all of its business operations, including offices. P3 Lovosice Cargo has a direct rail link to the nearby international rail freight container terminal. Its accessibility is further enhanced by connections to Exits 45 and 48 on the recently opened D8 motorway.