As announced in October 2016, Rockcastle concluded a preliminary agreement to acquire Galeria Warmińska shopping centre in the city of Olsztyn in Poland from Galeria Warmińska Spółka z Ograniczoną Odpowiedzialnością Spółka Komandytowa. All conditions precedent have been met and the transaction was concluded effective as of 15 December 2016.

Immofinanz has announced the sale of a smaller Austrian retail portfolio to an Austrian real estate investor and, with this transaction, continues its strategic withdrawal from properties that are not part of the core business. The portfolio covers 88 properties with approx. 108,000 sqm of rentable space in eight Austrian provinces. The parties to the transaction have agreed not to disclose any information on the purchase price. The closing will take place in several steps through the end of 2017. 

An opportunity fund advised by Tristan Capital Partners, a pan-European real estate investment manager, has agreed to sell the Zakopianka Shopping Centre in Krakow, Poland, to Johannesburg-listed Echo Polska Properties for approximately €54 million.

Immofinanz is continuing the expansion of its Stop Shop retail park chain in Serbia. Three new locations will be added in Požarevac, Lazarevac and Vršac, with a total of 23,800 sqm of rentable space. The individual projects are in different stages, but should all be completed before the end of 2017. 

Futureal Group has sold its Polish retail asset, Nova Park to a joint-venture formed by MAS Real Estate Inc. and Prime Kapital Limited for €88.5 million. Over the last four years Nova Park, located in central Gorzów in western Poland has become the largest shopping centre in the region with a catchment of 370,000 people. 

Knight Frank has been appointed leading agent by Skanska to commercialize the retail ground floors of all five buildings of the High5ive complex in Kraków. The project developed by Skanska Property Poland will be handed over for use in stages. The first stage, which will include two buildings right next to the Galeria Krakowska shopping centre, is scheduled for the end of 2017. 

2016 was marked by the wait for the Posnania shopping centre to open, with its 60,000 sqm of Gross Leasable Area (GLA). However, next year we will see the opening of as many as three buildings with an area of over 60,000 sqm of GLA: Galeria Północna in Warsaw, Wroclavia and Forum Gdańsk.

In 2016 the Romanian retail market was characterized by a high volume of delivered space and entry of new brands, which opened their first shops both in already existing shopping centers and in recently opened projects. Colliers International expects to see new names on the market, especially among Polish brands.

Rockcastle Global Real Estate has acquired a retail portfolio totalling 62,000 sqm from Aviva Investors, worth €160 million. Cushman & Wakefield, Hogan Lovells, Arcadis and PwC represented the purchaser, JLL, Dentons and Deloitte advised the seller in the transaction. The portfolio comprises two shopping centres: Focus Mall Zielona Góra and Focus Mall Piotrków Trybunalski. Providing respectively 26,800 sqm and 35,200 sqm, they are the largest shopping galleries in Zielona Góra and Piotrków Trybunalski. 

Hammerson plc and its partners in VIA Outlets, APG, Meyer Bergman and Value Retail, have signed an agreement to acquire, subject to regulatory clearance, four outlet centres across Europe. The retail venues, located close to major cities in Germany, Portugal, Spain and Poland, represent total gross asset value of €587 million and a blended net initial yield of 5.5%.  The transaction takes the total size of the VIA Outlets portfolio to €1.1 billion across 10 assets.