Arcona Capital has finalised the acquisition of the Maris office building in Szczecin, Poland from Bywater Properties for approximately €8.9 million. Following this acquisition, Polish assets now account for 40.5 percent of the portfolio of Arcona’s Arcona Property Fund. 

Investor appetite on the Polish real estate market in Q2 2017 has translated into high transaction volumes which stood at approximately €1 billion. The retail sector accounted for 80% market share of capital invested in Q2, mainly resulting from large portfolio acquisitions. If pending deals conclude, the year-end result should be close to €4.2-4.4 billion, which would be similar to the record of 2016.

Over 722,200 sqm of office space is currently under construction across Warsaw, but despite such a high level of new supply, the market remains healthy which is proved by a decreasing vacancy rate and a record high letting activity in H1 2017. Savills summarised the first half of the year on Warsaw’s office market.

The office market in Warsaw broke another record – total demand for office space in H1 2017 was 391,400 sqm. Wola continues to grow in terms of both popularity and significance. JLL summarised H1 2017 on the office market in Warsaw. 

Panattoni Europe launched the courier parcel distribution centre project for GLS Poland. This cross-dock facility will cover approx. 7,600 sqm and is being developed in the BTS and BTO formula in Janki near Warsaw. Execution of the project officially commenced on 20 July and the actual project start-up is scheduled for February 2018.

The vacancy rate on the Warsaw office market reached 13.9% at the end of June, with gross take up in H1 2017 nearly reaching 400,000 sqm. The Polish Office Research Forum has published its figures for Q2 2017 for the office market in Warsaw. 

Warburg-HIH Invest Real Estate, a German based real estate investment manager, will acquire the Sagittarius Business House office scheme in Wrocław on behalf of an individual fund it manages for an institutional investor. The property is under construction and its completion is expected in Q1 2018.

HB Reavis has completed the issue of a new series of its PLN 500 million bond programme established for the Polish market, raising €51.9 million (PLN 220 million). This latest issue represents not only the largest tranche in the history of the HB Reavis Group but also the largest bond issue achieved by a commercial real estate developer in Poland this year.

During H1 2017, the retail stock in Poland grew by 63,100 sqm. Shopping centres accounted for 16,600 sqm, retail parks for 21,500 sqm and standalone projects for 25,000 sqm. Recent market openings include standalone store Agata Meble (18,000 sqm) in Rzeszów, retail park Kalinka (9,700 sqm) in Kalisz as well as Tarasy Grabiszyńskie centre (8,500 sqm) in Wrocław. JLL summarised H1 2017 on the retail market in Poland.

Echo Polska Properties NV (EPP) has finalised another acquisition – a takeover of Galeria Solna in Inowrocław from a company owned by Libra Project and Acteeum Group. The value of the deal was €55.4 million.