An expanding BPO/SSC sector does not just boost the economy but the construction market as well. Investment funds and real estate agencies point out that in CEE there is still a need for prime offices, shopping centers and logistics infrastructure. Skanska, JLL and Dentons, in cooperation with ABSL have published their latest CEE Investment Report 2016: Mission to Outperform.
Rockcastle, a listed retail property company, has acquired Forum Liberec from British retailer Tesco for approx. 80 milionl EUR. Forum Liberec is a regional shopping centre located in the heart of Liberec, the capital of the North Bohemia region. The 47,000 sqm centre is tenanted by strong retailers including: Tesco, Cinema City, C&A, Datart, Gant, H&M, Lindex, New Yorker, Nord Blanc, Norma, ProBest, Reserved, Sportissimo and Tiger.
“Total commercial real estate investment in the Czech Republic recorded €490m in Q2 2016 contributing to an H1 2016 total of €950 million, a 26% reduction on the same period of last year. However, it should be noted that the considerable difference is due to the Palladium shopping centre transaction in H1 2015. When excluded, H1 2016 was 34% up on H1 2015,” says Jiri Horak, investment analyst at JLL.
Two-thirds of real estate markets globally have shown progress in levels of transparency over the past two years, according to JLL and LaSalle Investment Management’s 2016 Global Real Estate Transparency Index (GRETI). The ten countries identified as “Highly Transparent” by GRETI account for 75 percent of global investments into commercial real estate, highlighting the extent to which market transparency drives real estate investment decisions. Poland registered an excellent result in this year’s index and stands just outside the top ten, while other countries in the CEE region have also improved their results.
German asset and investment manager KGAL has purchased the Eiffel Square office building located in Budapest, representing the largest office transaction in Hungary in 2016 and marking the return of core investors in Hungary.
Focus Estate Fund acquired Galeria Sandomierz retail centre in Southeastern Poland from Euro Real Estate Investments LLP. The buyer was represented by Cushman & Wakefield and JLL acted on behalf of the seller.
According to JLL, at the end of Q1 2016, the total modern A-class industrial stock in the Czech Republic (owned by developers and investors) stood at 5.78 million sqm. In the first three months, new supply reached 84,300 sqm, increasing by 112% y-o-y (Q1 2015 vs. Q1 2016). With another 271,200 sqm currently under construction, the 6 million sqm mark of total stock is expected to be passed in the second half of this year. The share of speculative construction increased, nearly half of the industrial premises currently under construction (44 %) being developed on a speculative basis. Developers reflect the lowest vacancy rate in the last decade, strong demand from the potential tenants and a generally positive economic outlook for the Czech Republic.
IT and business service centres were the most active tenants on the Prague office market last year, having signed lease contracts for 84,000 sqm and reaching 31 % of net take-up. In 2015 the largest leasing transaction represented by an agent (JLL) was concluded in the history of Prague´s office market – SAP leased nearly 25,000 sqm in Metronom office building in Prague 5. SAP will move its 2,000 employees working for three operations under one roof.
108 Agency has mediated a lease of 7,700 sqm for the company DSV Solutions in Prologis Park Prague-Airport. DSV Solutions provides and manages supply chain solutions.
TECH LIGHT, a manufacturer and designer of LED lighting profiles, has relocated to Panattoni A2 Warsaw East Park, situated next to Stary Konik junction near Warsaw. The tenant moved into 1,200 sqm of warehouse and office space already in August. AXI IMMO provided comprehensive advisory services for TECH LIGHT.
Eli Lilly has extended its office lease of 900 sqm in Bucharest Business Park. The pharmaceutical company has been a tenant in the project since 2006. The office complex is owned by CA Immo. Real estate consultancy CBRE worked on the lease extension.
New appointments
From mid-October this year, Kornél Kalapács is taking up the position of Managing Director of Codic Hungary, the company announced. With around 30 years of experience in real estate development and construction, he will strengthen Codic's Hungarian subsidiary, which will hand over the Green Court Office A building under his management next month.
Mateusz Gołembiewski will head up JLL's HR organisation in the CEE and Russia region. He has 15 years of experience in developing company strategies and operations in this field, and will lead the HR teams in Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary and Russia.
The Urban Land Institute (ULI) has announced the appointment of Søren Rodian Olsen, managing director of Logicenters at NREP as chair of ULI Poland. He succeeds Dorota Wysokińska-Kuzdra, senior partner at Colliers, and officially began his voluntary two-year term on 1 October 2021.
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