iO Partners, JLL preferred partner in Romania, Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia, has appointed Andrei Văcaru as Regional Head of Capital Markets for CEE. He has been working for the agency in Romania for the past 16 years.

Daniela Lazea, Partner at Biriș Goran, spoke to Property Forum about Romania's advantageous position as an investment destination in the real estate sector and the growing demand seen by the law firm from clients active in the renewable energy sector. Biriș Goran’s portfolio remains consistent on residential, office and logistics projects.

Czech investment company Fidurock is expanding its portfolio. The latest acquisition, which took place in Trutnov, concerns one of the largest retail parks in the Czech Republic. According to idnes.cz, representatives of the investment holding company signed an agreement on the sale of Retail Park Trutnov with representatives of the Czech Real Estate Investment Fund at the end of June. The price of the transaction was not disclosed.

Strategic joint ventures and sale and leaseback deals are some of the emerging structures that are gaining ground in the commercial real estate investment industry in the EMEA, shows a Colliers report.

Czech real estate fund Investika's latest acquisition is the Royal Trakt Offices building in Warsaw. The roughly 150-year-old property in the centre of the capital city was bought by the fund from global real estate investor Patrizia SE. The acquisition was announced to Property Forum by Linklaters, the law firm that advised the real estate fund Investika during the acquisition. No further details of the transaction have been disclosed yet.

In the first two quarters of 2023, the volume of investment in the Polish real estate market was about €870 million. This result is 70% lower than the first half of 2022, when the Warsaw Hub office complex was sold for a record price. Investment in the warehouse sector accounted for more than half of the volume for H1 2023, with a total turnover of €438 million. Although this result represented a decrease of 34% compared to the first half of 2022, it was still higher than the 10-year average of €425 million, says JLL. 

The retail sector has been leading the investment activity in the first half of 2023 across CEE, having a share of 35% of the total volume of transactions that reached around €2.02 billion, according to a Colliers report.

Isle of Man-registered Black Sea Property, a company involved in property development, financing, and sales in Bulgaria, has recently announced a significant acquisition. They have signed an agreement to acquire 98.27% ownership of the Bulgarian hotel operator, Grand Hotel Varna, for approximately €28 million. The deal is to be finalized by October 30th. It aims to bolster Black Sea Property's investments in the hospitality sector.

Czech investment group Enern and Lincoln Property Company, an American company operating in the European market including Slovakia, have started construction of a new office project in Warsaw called The FORM. The project was purchased by the new owners in 2021 from Penta Real Estate. Its financing includes recently issued bonds worth €30 million with an annual coupon of six and a half percent, which are managed and secured by J&T Bank. The bonds are listed and traded on the Bratislava Stock Exchange, trend.sk reports.

Hotel chain Hyatt has expanded its presence in Bulgaria with the recent opening of its second Hyatt Regency hotel. The Hyatt Regency Pravets Resort, previously part of the Spanish chain RIU Hotels, is now under the umbrella of Hyatt Hotels Corporation. This expansion follows the opening of Hyatt Regency Sofia in 2020.