Aleksandra Mazzini, COO of Sierra Balmain Asset Management, talked to Property Forum about the current popularity of retail parks, the ongoing transformation of the retail sector and the point, where ESG and AI meet together.

The transformation of the so-called Pentagon in Palmovka district in Prague 8 has moved closer to reality. The Prague city deputies have approved a change to the city master plan this week, enabling the coordinated urban development of this area.

Mitiska REIM has announced the opening of a new retail park in Jastrzębie Zdrój, a city of 90,000 inhabitants in southern Poland. Developed in partnership with Karuzela Holding and owned in joint-venture with the FRI 2 fund, this latest opening is the third retail park development opened in Poland by Mitiska REIM and Karuzela Holding in the past nine months.

Krystian Modrzejewski, Chief Investment Officer at Newgate Investment, talked to Property Forum about the recent investment attractiveness of retail parks in Poland, their role as community integration points and the saturation of the retail markets in large Polish cities.

Rental activity in the Czech and European retail markets has significantly increased year-over-year, with a rise in the number of transactions and the volume of leased space across sectors and countries. A survey done by Cushman & Wakefield has analysed over 2,000 retail rental transactions in 13 European countries, including the Czech Republic.

The iconic building on the corner of Národní and Spálená streets in Prague, today Máj Národní, is starting to write a new chapter in its history. The two-year renovation, which transformed the original monofunctional Máj department store into Máj Národní, is coming to an end.

Empik in Cepelia, Decathlon City in the International Business Center, Bulgari, Luca, Carhartt and Le Szapo. Do the leases signed in Warsaw in recent months herald a high-street revival in Warsaw and beyond? High shopping centre density rates and shrinking retail availability bode well for it. In addition, Cushman & Wakefield notes that the Polish retail market is now going through a very interesting period of growth, with many tenants increasingly focusing on location diversification as new retail concepts and formats are emerging. This means that there is a real chance of a revival of high-street retail.

A retail park in Bielsko-Biała, which is being built on the site of a Tesco shop on Warszawska Street, has a new owner. Redkom Development, responsible for the construction and commercialisation of the facility, sold the project to Newgate Investment, a company specializing in managing the value of retail properties, especially retail parks. The price has not been disclosed.

Mitiska REIM has secured a €40 million refinancing with mBank for a portfolio of four Polish food-anchored retail parks. Representing a combined gross leasable area (GLA) of nearly 34,000 sqm, the convenience centres are located in the cities of Września, Turek, Lubliniec and Wodzisław Śląski, and were developed by Mitiska REIM’s Polish partner, Karuzela Holding, and are owned in joint-venture with the FRI 2 fund.

The Varyáda shopping centre in Karlovy Vary has been undergoing extensive modernisation and expansion. Construction works are taking place while the centre is in full operation.