According to the latest data from Cushman & Wakefield, the average retail vacancy rate in Poland’s largest cities currently stands at 3.5%, down by 1.2 pp year-on-year. More importantly, falls were recorded in six out of the eight largest cities, with the availability of retail space at the lowest in Kraków, Łódź and Szczecin. This suggests a gradual retail recovery in Poland, says Cushman & Wakefield. Meanwhile, as the market continues to stabilize, retail landlords should increasingly turn their focus onto diversifying their offer.

Trei Real Estate has just presented its mid-year financials for 2023. Despite a difficult market environment for developers, Trei continues its developments of residential real estate in Germany, Poland and the United States as well as of retail real estate in Poland. The development pipeline amounted to a total value of €1.9 billion by 30 June 2022, which represents a drop of c. €100 million since 31 December 2022. The decline is essentially explained by the completion of three retail parks in Poland as well as by the completion and the highly successful sale of the “Atlantic Beach House” residential project in Charleston/South Carolina, whose disposal generated around 35 per cent IRR for Trei. Out of the total development pipeline of €1.9 billion, the residential use class accounts for €1.7 billion while retail developments in Poland account for €200 million.

Popeyes is to open its first Warsaw restaurant in Złote Tarasy on 21 September. The fast food chain from Louisiana is the seventh new tenant to come to Złote Tarasy in 2023 after such brands as LUSH, Candy Pop, and Hugo. Cushman & Wakefield, which is responsible for the re-commercialisation and property management for the scheme, expects to see more international debuts in Złote Tarasy later this year.

The land market in Romania recorded transactions with a combined value of around €250 million in H1 2023, driven by increasing demand in the retail and residential segments.  

CTP has leased approximately 68,000 sqm of industrial and warehouse space to Mercator, a major Serbian supermarket chain, at CTPark Belgrade City, which will be the largest logistics hub in Serbia when complete.

Czech real estate fund ZDR Investments has bought the Galeria Bakar shopping park in Rijeka, Croatia, for €40 million. Part of the shopping park has already been completed and another one will be ready within a year. The acquisition brings the fund's portfolio to 39 properties with a value in excess of CZK 10 billion (over €411 million), the group reports on its website.

Focus Estate Fund plans to convert its entire shopping centre portfolio to solar-powered facilities. The first initiative was inaugurated with the installation of solar panels at Galeria Awangarda in Bartoszyce.

The number of photovoltaic surfaces installed on SES shopping malls is constantly increasing. This year, SES has invested in the construction of photovoltaic systems in the five Slovenian shopping centres, namely Aleja, Citypark and Center Vič in Ljubljana, Citycenter Celje and Europark Maribor. The systems, boasting a total output of 4,300 kilowatts, have been in operation since July and August. They cover around one-fifth of the centres’ electricity requirement with a 1,200-ton saving in terms of CO2 emissions. The SES climate objective to fit photovoltaic systems on at least 50 percent of its available mall roof surfaces by 2040 has therefore already been achieved or exceeded to a significant extent in Slovenia. SES is currently operating four photovoltaic systems in Austria. An additional three locations are scheduled to be equipped with these systems by the end of the year.

Bucharest is the largest retail market in Romania with a total stock of 1.24 million sqm in operational projects, while across the country Timișoara has the biggest volume of shopping centres and retail parks of all regional cities. 

James Fife, CEO of LCP Properties Poland has talked to Property Forum about the company`s investment plans, the impact of the high interest rates and the entrance into the warehouse market.