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.

406,000 sqm of retail space was handed over on the Polish market in 2019. The development pipeline currently stands at approximately 500,000 sqm, 85% of which is scheduled for opening by the end of 2020. Going forward, investors’ interest will increasingly shift towards smaller cities below 100,000 inhabitants. Cushman & Wakefield has summarized the Polish retail market.

Pasaż Chełmiński, modern retail park, in the main shopping area in Chełmno, has been sold by TUF Real Estate to LCP Properties. Avison Young’s investment team represented the buyer in the transaction.

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.