Immofinanz has signed a letter of intent for the sale of its Hungarian office properties to S Immo. This transaction is taking place through close cooperation within the CPI Property Group to realise synergy effects and can be used to extend Immofinanz’s myhive office solutions to the entire group. The Hungarian portfolio includes six buildings in Budapest with roughly 124,000 sqm of rentable space. The closing of the transaction could take place before the end of 2022.

One of the most important questions among the participants of CEE Property Forum 2022 in Vienna was “Is it still safe to invest in real estate located in Central and Eastern Europe?”. The answer is positive. It is still safe, though not everywhere.

Hungarian developer and investor Infogroup has bought a 50% share in the ibis Styles Budapest Citywest Hotel.

Investments in the private rented sector (PRS) and industrial projects continue to grow in Central and Eastern Europe despite economic and geopolitical challenges, concluded speakers during the investment strategies panel at CEE Property Forum 2022 in Vienna.

Generali Real Estate has completed the acquisition of MDC2 Park Kraków South, a logistics development project in Poland, located in Skawina, Kraków area, on behalf of the pan-European Generali Real Estate Logistics Fund managed by Generali Real Estate S.p.A Società di gestione del risparmio. The development will be carried out in collaboration with MDC2, a warehouse and logistics space developer operating on the Polish market. The price has not been disclosed.

Susanne Steinböck, Group Head of Corporate Communications and Sustainability at CA Immo talked to Property Forum about the current state of affairs in the European office market, its attractiveness and energy-related challenges it has to face in the nearest future.

As part of its value-creating growth strategy with a focus on high-return properties, Immofinanz is acquiring 53 retail properties in the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary from its majority shareholder CPI Property Group (CPIPG). The acquired portfolio has roughly 217,000 sqm of rentable space and is fully let with an occupancy rate of 99%. The purchase price totals €324.2 million. The purchase contract was signed today, together with the closing for 36 retail properties in the Czech Republic and Poland which have 108,000 sqm of rentable space. The purchase price of €191 million for those properties was financed from existing funds. The closing for the remaining 17 properties in Hungary and Slovakia is expected to take place by the end of this year.

Panattoni has sold a BTS facility developed in Stargard, Northwestern Poland that will be used by TEDi. The 87,000 sqm building was purchased for €53 million by a German investor, based in Dortmund.

Former Czech Prime Minister and billionaire Andrej Babiš, who is now facing trial for misuse of EU subsidies, is buying residential land in Slovenia. He has bought a plot of land in the centre of Ljubljana with his investment fund Hartenberg and the Slovak developer Corwin, where up to 400 flats can be built. The transaction, worth an estimated €25 million, would make Andrej Babiš one of the major players on the Slovenian real estate market, reported the investigative server Necenzurirano.si, quoted by the Czech daily E15.cz.

Prologis Europe has significantly scaled up its urban offering across the continent with more than a million square meters of core logistics space. On behalf of its open-ended vehicle PELF, the company has acquired 128 buildings and 6 developments in key urban gateway locations from last-mile operator Crossbay. The agreed price was €1.585 billion.