Arkadiusz Rudzki, Executive Vice President, Leasing & Sales for Skanska’s commercial development business unit in CEE, talked to Property Forum about the duration of the supply gap in the Warsaw office market, the current interests of investment funds and Skanska’s Scandinavian approach to implementing the ESG principles.

Food retailer Ahold Delhaize, the owner of the Mega Image supermarket chain in Romania, has purchased the Profi supermarket chain from MidEuropa private equity fund, in a deal worth €1.3 billion.

The City Point office building in Prague 4 - Pankrác is changing hands. It is being transferred from the hands of the investment company Amundi Czech Republic to the ownership of the domestic operator of coworking spaces and serviced offices WorkLounge. Mint Investments Group was the investment advisor that handled the entire transaction for Amundi. Agents from real estate consultancy Cushman & Wakefield and law firm Havel & Partners also participated in the deal. The transaction was worth more than CZK 450 million (€18.25 million). 

The capital city will buy the Czech Post building in Na Strži Street in Prague 4 for CZK 425 million (€17.3 million). The city wants to sign the contract with the post office as soon as possible, said councillor Adam Zábranský (Piráti). All 57 councillors present supported the purchase. The building is a seven-storey building from 1984 with adjacent land, writes ČTK.

Investors in Poland are looking for market opportunities and value-add assets. Companies are optimizing their portfolios by putting up for sale properties that do not fit their new investment strategies, says Walter Herz. 

Accolade has expanded its management team with the addition of a new director responsible for the commercialisation of the entire group's portfolio. Joanna Sinkiewicz brings over 16 years of property industry experience and will be responsible for achieving the company's strategic goals.

Futureal has announced the acquisition of the Lipowy Office Park complex in Warsaw. In alignment with its strategy, the company plans to reposition the development by transforming it into a sustainable, human-centric, and modern office building. Linklaters has advised the seller on the transaction.

Real estate investments continue despite the slowdown of the economy, with offices and industrial mentioned as some of the segments seeing increased demand and higher deal volumes, concluded speakers of the 2024 outlook panel hosted at the SEE Property Forum 2023 conference in Bucharest.

UBM Development Czechia has sold an apartment building in the Timber Praha residential project to the real estate investment fund Future X1. Building M in the Timber Praha project, which represents the first multi-storey apartment building made of wood in the capital city, comprises 15 apartments with layouts from 1 + kk to 4 + kk and sizes ranging from 39 sqm to 110 sqm. The price of the transaction was not disclosed. 

The third quarter of the year has slowed down in terms of investment activity in comparison with the previous quarter. Namely, the most sought-after segments have been office schemes and retail parks. Both domestic and foreign investors have been active, with a slightly higher provision of international capital since the beginning of the year, CBRE SEE reports.