Cordia International is continuing its international expansion. Following Romania, Poland and Spain, the developer is entering the German rental housing market through the acquisition of a 20.6% stake in ARGO Properties N.V. for €34.4 million.

Residential investments in Europe used to be the domain of certain specialised investors but that is now changing as other players that have previously invested exclusively in office or retail are looking at investments in the living sector. Maximilian Mendel, Head of Living Investment at JLL in Poland, talked to Property Forum about current trends in CEE residential investment.

Co-living has become a buzzword on the real estate market, but sharing living space, interests and values can benefit not only young people, corporate professionals or students. Cushman & Wakefield’s latest insight report “Co-living – a new era for the real estate investment market in Poland” explores senior housing. Forecasts by the Polish Central Statistical Office (GUS) indicate that by 2050 the number of Polish people aged 60 and over will have risen by approximately 52%. Co-living therefore represents both an opportunity for retirees to enjoy a new lifestyle and a trend that has a strong growth potential.

Echo Investment has secured three standing and working first-generation shopping centres belonging to the Tesco Group. Altogether, around 240,000 sqm mixed-use area consisting of office, retail and residential space can be developed on plots located in Poznań, Łódź and Kraków.

Reino Capital, a Luxembourg-based fund and Australia's RF CorVal signed a preliminary agreement to buy BUMA Group’s real estate portfolio as part of a larger deal. The portfolio consists of 10 office properties with over 110,000 sqm GLA plus a land bank with capacity for office projects totalling more than 80,000 sqm GLA and residential projects with over 100,000 sqm of usable area.

Atrium European Real Estate published its financial results for 2019 and announced that the Board and management had been undertaking a strategic review to identify further growth opportunities to deliver strong, long term sustainable income returns to shareholders. The strategic review focused on, amongst other things, leveraging the operating platform in Poland and the Czech Republic and diversification into other classes of real estate, focusing on residential-for-rent

This year Spanish-based developer Gran Via Real Estate will complete the development of the Timișoara 58 residential complex in Bucharest, at the site of the former Frigocom factory, at the crossroads of Timișoara Boulevard and Moinești Street.

Cordia International announced a public tender offer on 14 February 2020 to buy the remaining approximately 34.34% of the shares in Polnord S.A., which is not owned by Cordia International currently.

A joint venture between a fund managed by the Real Estate Group of Ares Management Corporation and Griffin Real Estate announced the acquisition of a 98.04% stake in Murapol SA, a leading Polish property development company. The value of the deal was not disclosed.

Cordia has successfully acquired 63.7 million shares of Polnord, one of the largest development companies in Poland. Transaction worth €31.7 million provided the Hungarian founded developer with a control stock of shares exceeding 65% in the increased capital.