The Bulgarian property market is booming with the total transaction volume expected to exceed €1 billion in 2017. The outlook for the future is highly positive: strong demand, underpinned by solid economic growth, encourages developers to start new projects in all segments of the market.

Commerz Real has founded a joint venture together with Unibail-Rodamco for the Prague shopping centre Metropole Zlicin, which has until recently been fully owned by its open-ended real estate fund hausInvest. To this end it has sold 50 per cent of its shares in the property company to Unibail-Rodamco. It was agreed that confidentiality be maintained on the purchase price. Unibail-Rodamco will be assuming the asset and property management for the centre.

During the third quarter of 2017 the total commercial real estate investment transaction volume reached some €505 million in Hungary, pushing the 2017 year-to-date volume to nearly €1.3 billion, according to JLL Hungary’s latest statistics.

One United Properties, a Romanian residential developer has entered the Bucharest office investment market by purchasing the North Gate office building in Pipera. The property was bought at a public auction for €16.8 million. The developer of the complex, Creativ Invest Grup, filed for insolvency earlier.

In 2016, the premises of the former Brno arms factory was taken over by CPI Property Group, which presented the development project Nová Zbrojovka. A new modern neighbourhood is steadily emerging from the brownfield in the wider centre of Brno. At present, the issue of transport infrastructure, the revitalisation of the surrounding area and the clearing of individual spaces is being addressed.

ICP Capital Partners has entered the Czech investment market with the acquisition of Na Rybníčku office building from an Irish private investor. The purchase price is believed to be approximately €5 million (CZK 130 million).

At the beginning of summer 2016, a production and distribution complex owned by one of the largest non-alcoholic beverage producers Coca-Cola HBC Czech and Slovak Republics, was added to the Slovak industrial market. The complex, which offers approximately 30,000 sqm of leasable area with ca. 35,000 sqm of adjacent land for further development was exclusively marketed by the Industrial Agency team in JLL Slovakia. From October 2017 the new owner is Priemyselný areál Lúka s.r.o. The value of the transaction remains confidential.

Poland continues to attract brands from across Europe. The significance and the share of the Food & Beverage proposition within shopping centers continues to grow. Furthermore, both new retail concepts and mixed-use projects have become increasingly popular as well. JLL presents its summary of the Polish retail market as of the end of Q3 2017.

Corpus Sireo Real Estate has acquired the Oasis Florenc office property in Prague from an international investor. The purchased asset is located near the Vltava river and will now be included in the pan-European DEREIF SICAV-FIS fund. The parties agreed not to disclose the purchase price.

Echo Polska Properties has reached an agreement to acquire a portfolio of retail properties for €692.1 million. The portfolio comprises twelve retail properties of which eight comprise shopping centres and four retail parks with over 620 stores situated in strong regional cities across Poland. The portfolio has an aggregate gross lettable area around 450,000 sqm. The seller is the Chariot Top Group, owned by Pimco (37.5%), Oaktree Capital Management (37.5%) and Redefine Properties (25%).