Poland saw 33 new schemes delivered to the market in 2020 despite retail being in crisis. What does the future hold for the newly-built and existing shopping centres and retail parks? Beata Kokeli, Head of Retail Agency at Cushman & Wakefield, talks about trends in the retail sector.

Atrium European Real Estate Limited has priced a €300 million inaugural green bond offering due 5 September 2027 under its EMTN Programme. The New Green Notes are issued by Atrium Finance Issuer B.V. and are guaranteed by Atrium. An amount equal to the net proceeds of the offering will be allocated to finance or refinance eligible projects and assets.

Katowice-based real estate developer DL Invest Group, which has managed to build a significant portfolio of office, retail and logistics assets across Poland, sees further growth potential in all three major asset classes. Dominik Leszczyński, Founder and CEO of DL Invest Group shared his expansion strategy for the coming years with Property Forum.

Fashion House, part of  Liebrecht & wooD Group, announced that the new outlet from Bucharest is 70% leased and will open on March 25thh.

Close to 130,000 sq m was delivered to the market across all retail formats in Q4 2020, bringing last year’s total new supply to more than 340,000 sq m. Despite pandemic-related restrictions and successive lockdowns (7-28 November and from 28 December onwards), the fourth quarter witnessed 11 new retail completions and an outlet centre extension. Newly built schemes were sized under 20,000 sq m, and nearly half of the Q4 2020 new supply was delivered in cities below 50,000 inhabitants. Cushman & Wakefield summarizes current situation on Polish retail market.

Privately owned real estate developer Acteeum is preparing to launch the development of a new retail park named Ostróda Power Center in Poland’s Masurian region.

JSE-listed EPP, the largest owner of shopping centres in Poland, announces the appointment of Agata Sekuła as the company’s Executive Management Team Member responsible for sales and acquisitions. Agata will join EPP from 1 March 2021 and be responsible for executing the EPP’s divestment and investment plans, with particular focus on acquiring institutional co-investors for EPP’s retail portfolio.

Slovenia-based investor ALFI Real Estate fund has completed the acquisition of a new retail park based in Poreč, Croatia (Galerija Poreč). The property with roughly 8,500 sqm was purchased from specialist Austrian investor MID Group. The retail park is strategically positioned in a new shopping zone near a McDonald’s restaurant and has an attractive tenant mix with everyday convenience items.

The COVID-19 pandemic has left hardly any business or industry untouched and retail real estate industry has also been affected. The last twelve months were marked by three lockdowns that helped change the shopping habits of Poles, lower developer activity, and increase the popularity of smaller retail formats, JLL analysts say.

Although the retail segment is among those affected the most by the coronavirus crisis, this does not show in the number of brands newly incoming to the Czech market. Whereas 24 new brands came to the country in 2019, in the crisis year 2020 there were 25. This year, the number of newcomer brands could be even higher – some brands postponed opening their shops to 2021 due to the corona crisis., according to a report by Cushman & Wakefield.