Echo Investment signed a preliminary sale agreement for three office buildings in Fuzja Łódź, that will be acquired for over €56.4 million by KGAL Group, an independent investment and asset manager. The buildings encompass 22,000 sqm of BREEAM-certified office space. They are a part of mixed-use Fuzja, a project revitalizing a post-industrial area of Łódź.

Despite almost all European office employees working from home last year the empty workplaces did not lead to a reduction in the expenditure that companies had to fulfil had the workforce been in the office. The average costs per FTE fell by only 2% and amounted to €9,468. These findings have been published by Colliers, Occupier Cost Index (OCI), which comprises data from 29 countries, 3,990 buildings, 26.1 million square meters of office space and 1.96 million FTEs.

Griffin Capital Partners is the new name of the rebranded investment and asset manager Griffin Real Estate. By changing its name and revising its visual identity, the company wants to highlight the shift to private equity that has taken place in Griffin’s investment strategy over the last years.

2021 was a year of unprecedented activity of Czech investors and developers on the Polish real estate market. Czech entities are competing with major German, American and Israeli players and so far they are performing very well in the race for the best assets.   

Net lease real estate investment trust W.P. Carey has added seven DIY retail stores in Poland to its portfolio. The NYSE-listed company has bought the newly built assets totalling 70,000 sqm from private real estate firm Supernova Group for an undisclosed sum. The stores are triple-net leased to OBI for a term of 15 years with Eurozone CPI-based rent increases.

MLP Group is embarking on a project to build rooftop solar power systems at ten logistic parks making up its Polish property portfolio. The project has been contracted to Quanta Energy. The PV panels will cover an aggregate area of about 120,000 sqm, featuring a total capacity of 5.93 MWp. The project is scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2023.

Biuro Inwestycji Kapitałowych has started the second stage of construction of the logistics park BIK Park Wrocław. The speculative investment will provide 22,500 sqm of modern warehouse space. The area of ​​the entire complex will eventually reach the target size of 47,500 sqm. Completion of construction works is planned for the third quarter of 2022.

Accolade secured the plot to launch its new project. The new industrial park has a planned area of 76,000 sqm and an investment value of over €60 million. It will be located on the Polish western border, along the S3 road and right next to the A2 highway junction.

Commercial real estate market in Poland has come a long way since the spring of 2020. Never before have so many changes been made in such a short time. Adaptation to new conditions turned out to be the most difficult for hotels and retail. For the warehouse market, in turn, the reshuffling of sales and deliveries became a springboard for a series of records. The offices returned in a new form. Nowadays, the new trends that will shape the market in the upcoming years, lead the way for the real estate sector. Experts from Walter Herz consulting company comment on what is changing.

Garbe Institutional Capital has launched a pan-European residential real estate fund with a total target investment volume (GAV) of around €800 million. The Garbe European Residential Fund (Garbe EUResi) invests in real estate developments and selectively also in properties undergoing energy rehabilitation. The investment strategy follows a "boots on the ground" approach: the fund only invests in locations where Garbe can act as a local investor through a local presence. The fund’s launch is a milestone in Garbe Institutional Capital’s move to expand into a European residential real estate platform. Garbe EUResi has already received equity commitments of €82.5 million.