Discount retailers are predicted to find the CEE market very attractive as evidence shows shoppers have favoured the ‘value for money’ approach these retailers provide, reveals a new report by Colliers.

Property developer Scallier says it has secured a building permit for a new retail park located in Turda. The project will have a leasable area of 9,000 sqm and has already attracted a mix of retailers.

Focus Estate Fund has finalized the deal on the sale of two of its retail properties in the Czech Republic to investment group DRFG – Centro Ostrava Retail Park (7 699 sqm GLA) in Ostrava and Most Retail Park (6 471 sqm GLA) in Most. The Fund acquired these assets in 2016 and 2017, respectively. As of the date of the transaction, both properties were 100% leased.

Trei Real Estate just borrowed €27.5 million in its first financing arrangement with a Polish bank. The lending bank is “Bank Polska Kasa Opieki Spólka Akcyjna” (“Pekao”). Collateral for the loan was provided in the form of seven Vendo Parks in Poland, all of which were completed during the past twelve months. The loan has a five-year maturity. The debt capital is earmarked for further residential developments and the construction of additional Vendo Parks in Poland.

Focus Estate Fund has signed a loan agreement with BNP Paribas Bank Polska for €13.5 million. The funds will be used to increase the Polish portfolio of FEF, as well as for further improvements at three fund’s properties in Poland. It refers to Eden Retail Park in Zgorzelec (GLA - 9,537 sqm), Galeria Sandomierz in Sandomierz (GLA - 4,383 sqm) and Galeria Awangarda in Bartoszyce (GLA - 6,056 sqm). This is not the first deal with BNP Paribas Bank Polska, the bank has already financed the Fund's assets.

The LCP Group has just finalised the purchase of another 3 Polish retail parks in Bytom, Góra Kalwaria and Plewiska near Poznań.

Property developer Mitiska REIM has opened a new retail park in Baia Mare and inaugurated an extension of another retail project in Mediaș. The development activity was carried out in partnership with Square 7 Properties. 

Around 120,000 sqm in new and extensions of existing retail projects are under development in Romania with delivery estimated by the end of 2022, according to a report by real estate consultancy Cushman & Wakefield Echinox. 

Patron Capital, the pan-European institutional investor focused on property-backed investments, and Trei Real Estate, an international developer and asset holder for residential and retail real estate, have formed a new 75:25 joint venture to develop and hold retail parks in Poland under the Vendo Park brand.

The potential of the commercial real estate market in Poland is constantly growing, and the profile of projects that investors focus on is changing