After a calm Q3, the Polish retail market is set to pick up momentum. In Q4 developers may deliver up to 276,000 sqm of modern shopping centre space. JLL has published its Q3 2016 report on Poland's retail market.

The commercialization of Gdańsk’s Galeria Metropolia, which is scheduled to open on 22-23 October, is nearing completion. Fourteen new tenants include fashion stores, cafés and services. Cushman & Wakefield  acted as the agent on the lease agreements.

HB Reavis’ Central Europe Real Estate Fund (CEREIF) has sold its retail asset, Aupark Piestany in Slovakia, to New Europe Property Investments (NEPI) for €39.5 million. The shopping centre, totalling 10,000 sqm of GLA and 380 parking spaces, is home to brands such as CCC Shoes, Mango, Orsay and 

According to the latest report by JLL, High Street Retail in Prague 2016/2017, the Czech capital is the most attractive destination for expansion of international retailers in CEE and is being considered as the gate when entering this region. Demand for quality space on Prague’s high streets, Pařížská and Na Příkopě, is outstripping supply which is reflected in the current rent rate of up to €190/sqm/month for a notional unit of 100 sqm in a prime location.

Hungarian retail sales and turnover continue to show healthy growth, buoyed by the abolition of the Sunday closing law after barely one year in effect. Retailer demand is unbroken but remains pressed by the lack of available supply resulting in upward pressure on rents. Fashion retailers remained the most active in H1 2016, followed by the footwear and F&B segments which both expanded significantly, according to the latest Retail Market View published by CBRE.

Emerging Europe Properties Fund and Discovery Group have sold Nakupní Park Centro Ostrava to Focus Estate Fund. The subject of the sale is a fully leased retail park in Ostrava. Operating since 2011, it offers 7,700 sqm of retail space. Long-term tenants include Mountfield, JYSK, Okay Electric, Breno, Jitona, Kasa, Super Zoo, and Rossmann.

TriGranit has completed the sale of two assets. Millennium Towers, an office complex in Budapest, has been sold to CA Immo for €175 million and Bonarka City Center, a shopping mall in Krakow has been purchased by Rockcastle. The developer will remain the property manager of both assets.

Echo Investment – a Polish developer – and Echo Polska Properties – an international fund operating as a REIT - signed agreements to jointly buy and jointly develop a real property at ul. Towarowa 22 in Warsaw from Griffin Real Estate, a Polish private equity fund. The buyers will pay €120 million for the property – €78 million upon signing the agreement, while the remaining amount will be paid after certain planning conditions are met.

Futureal Group has announced that their latest retail development in Budapest, Etele Plaza is now in negotiations with a number of anchor tenants and they are hoping to confirm the first brands by end of Q1 2017. Located in the south-western part of Budapest, Etele Plaza is expected to attract up to 40,000 shoppers a day. This will be the first large-scale retail development in the Hungarian capital since the opening of Árkád 2 in 2013.

TriGranit has completed the sale of Bonarka City Center (BCC) in Krakow to Rockcastle, a property company specializing in retail centres in Central and Eastern Europe. TriGranit, which is owned by TPG Real Estate and was the developer of the shopping centre, will remain the property manager for two years. In addition to managing BCC, TriGranit will remain active in Krakow and is currently developing three office buildings in the ‘Bonarka for Business’ (B4B) area.