Colliers International in CEE intends to update some of the more rapidly changing data and market sentiment on a weekly basis and then to provide Q1 market sector updates as they become available or as they develop. Below is this week’s summary.

Throughout the region, CTP is offering clients the opportunity to lease warehouse space for short terms. This measure comes in response to the concerns being raised by the COVID-19 situation regarding the stability of the retail supply chain.

NEPI Rockcastle provided an initial update concerning the impact of the COVID-19 related government measures on its activities in an announcement dated 17 March 2020. Since that date, the authorities in Romania, Serbia and Croatia have increased the safety measures to contain the spreading of COVID-19. New measures include temporarily limiting the operations of some of its shopping centres’ tenants.

The COVID-19 crisis continues to evolve rapidly and several governments in the markets in which Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW) operates have taken measures to contain the spread of the virus. These measures will impact the Group’s operations, according to URW’s statement.

The government authorities in all countries where Immofinanz owns and operates retail properties have recently imposed restrictions and implemented various measures to contain Covid-19. These measures affect various aspects of everyday life, among others through the temporary shutdown of retail facilities. Exceptions have generally been made for stores, which sell basic supplies like supermarkets and pharmacies, drugstores, post offices, banks, pet food shops etc. Moreover, access to public areas has been limited or similar recommendations have been issued. Immofinanz supports these measures in the interest of public health and safety.

Property Forum collected the latest measures taken in CEE countries to mitigate the negative effects of the coronavirus outbreak.

The pandemic declared last week by the WHO has undoubtedly a crippling effect on businesses and poses major challenges and unexpected obstacles to supply chain management. Nevertheless, as always in such crisis situations, there are also companies that come out unscathed of them, even in a better condition and with innovative solutions. Will the coronavirus be a black swan for the Polish market and will it further accelerate the fast-growing e-commerce sector? An analysis by Damian Kołata, Associate, Industrial & Logistics Agency at Cushman & Wakefield.

South African investor Tower has entered into an agreement to sell the Vukovarska retail property in Zagreb, Croatia at an 11% premium to its book value.

Redevco aims to grow its mandates and portfolio to €10 billion by 2025 from €7.5 billion currently, by launching a drive into new real estate sectors beyond retail. Third-party investors now comprise 40% of Redevco’s capital base at €2.8 billion, compared with zero six years ago. The company is extending the opening of its investment platform to like-minded investors and will consider a variety of investment vehicles to broaden its investor base, with an initial focus on joint ventures.

In Q1 2020, the Centerscape group has purchased a retail property located in Gocław, Warsaw with an Aldi market as the anchor tenant on a rental area of 3,888 sqm.