Atrium announced the major refurbishment of its flagship shopping centre – Atrium Promenada, located in Warsaw, Poland. The investment aims to refurbish the second part of the shopping centre. This will continue the transformation of Promenada, the first part of which was completed in autumn 2018.

Strabag Real Estate has acquired the defunct Galeria Plaza shopping centre in Kraków and the 8 ha plot it stands on from Peakside Capital Advisors for an undisclosed sum.

Investment transactions on the Romanian real estate market could exceed the €1 billion threshold this year, considering the projects in various stages of negotiation, according to Colliers.  At present, there are several transactions in the pipeline worth at least €100 million each, and others are ready to go on the market

Tatra Asset Management has acquired the Hexagon retail park in Žarnovice, Central Slovakia from Hexagon Retail s.r.o. The new owner of the Hexagon retail park with an area of 3,600 sqm is a real estate fund managed by Tatra Asset Management, which with this acquisition has expanded its portfolio to 11 retail parks operated under the Lipa Park brand.

Despite the pandemic triumph of e-commerce, customers are not giving up on shopping in brick-and-mortar shops. Brands wanting to benefit from the synergy of these channels implement innovative formats and compete for customers' attention with technology and environmentally friendly products. However, retail parks and convenience centres continue to enjoy popularity among investors and developers, says JLL.

Portico Investments has purchased a new Profi store in Bucharest, in a bid to expand its Romanian portfolio. 

Czech-Dutch investment company Fidurock has commenced the construction of the second phase of the Staré Město retail park project. The extension will expand the current 4,100 sqm building with 500 sqm.

Stage Capital, a European secondaries’ investor, acquired a portfolio of shopping centres in Poland from Pradera Central European Fund. The acquisition was on behalf of Stage Capital Laurel II, Stage Capital’s second fund, and backed from funds managed by Glendower Capital.

Żabka Group is now the largest chain of autonomous stores in Europe after launching 25 AI-powered stores called Żabka Nano. The concept enables quick shopping without checkout clerks, queues, or cash to sell products precisely matched to location and customer demographics. The stores operate in several formats such as standalone container-based vending machines, traditional brick-and-mortar and store-within-a-store points of sale; each leveraging AI-powered computer vision technology created through close cooperation with American technology company AiFi.

At the end of 2020, Porto Montenegro presented to the public its long-awaited project – the innovative, urban-style neighbourhood of Boka Place. The carefully planned space blends gastronomy, shopping and entertainment with many other benefits, available to Porto Montenegro residents as well as to more than 3.1 million visitors coming each year.