Poland’s convenience retail market has seen dynamic growth during 2020 and 2021 with several significant investment transactions closed and many new developments launched. Michał Ćwikliński MRICS, Principal, Managing Director and Paulina Brzeszkiewicz-Kuczyńska, Research and Data Manager at Avison Young in Poland talked to Property Forum about the trends driving this market segment.

Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield has been awarded BREEAM In-Use v.6 for its Westfield Arkadia, Galeria Mokotów and Galeria Wileńska shopping centres in Warsaw, all of which were rated as ‘Excellent’ for asset performance.

Romanian e-commerce player eMAG is investing in a new warehouse spanning more than 100,000 sqm near Budapest, which is the company’s first development of this kind outside the country. 

Polish developer Scallier has obtained the BREEAM certificate at the Excellent level for its retail park that was opened last November in Focșani. 

CPI Property Group has committed to significantly reducing its portfolio’s carbon footprint and, at the same time, encourages its tenants to do the same. The Group also invests heavily in special building management systems to reach sustainable operation even faster, says Mátyás Gereben, Country Manager at CPI Hungary who talked to Property Forum about the company’s asset management strategy on the local market.

Fashion House Outlet Centre Pallady will undergo an expansion of 5,674 sqm roughly one year after the delivery of the first phase of the project located on the eastern outskirts of Bucharest. 

Maxim Shkolnick, General Partner at CEE-based retail investor Focus Estate Fund talked to Property Forum about recent acquisitions in Poland, the Covid-driven evolution of the retail market and the astonishing popularity of convenience centres among investment funds.

Lidl, the discount grocery chain, plans a store on Prague's Na Příkopě street. It will use the premises of a historic building, the former headquarters of the Czechoslovak Commercial Bank. The grocery store will be located next to the Hamleys toy store. Lidl expects to open a new store in the middle of the year, the Czech News Agency (ČTK) reports. Na Příkopě Street ranks around 20th in Cushman & Wakefield's ranking of the world's most expensive streets.  

Property investor Omer Susli has purchased River Plaza Mall in Râmnicu Vâlcea from Sonae Sierra for an undisclosed sum.

Hungarian investment and property management company Indotek Group has launched 16 energy efficiency projects with a total worth of €1.4 million (HUF 500 million) to modernize its shopping centres and office buildings.