Austrian company Karimpol Group officially launched the construction of the Squarebizz Bory project in Bratislava which will include retail, storage and office space. Peter Šmitala, Project Manager at Karimpol Slovakia talked to Property Forum about the project and the company’s future plans.

Vitantis Shopping Center, the retail park owned by Revetas Capital, has closed new leasing deals for 3,900 sqm with three companies that will occupy spaces for the next 5-10 years. 

In H1 2021 Dino Polska, a grocery store network continued its geographic expansion. Its store count climbed by 150 in this period to 1,622. That means that save for Sundays a new Dino store was opened in Poland every single day. At the same time, Dino Polska created 2.4 thousand new jobs and at the end of June it had more than 28.2 thousand employees.

NEPI Rockcastle’s turnover in H1 2021 was 28.1% higher than in H1 2020 and 23.1% lower than in H1 2019 (on a property like-for-like basis, excluding hypermarkets and entertainment). The company published its interim financial report for H1 2021.

Bluehouse Capital has sold the Point Shopping Center in Zagreb. CBS International, part of the Cushman & Wakefield Group, acted as advisor on the deal as an exclusive sales representative, ekapija.com reports. The buyer was Slovenian investor TRIGAL Alternative Investment Fund, the company announced on LinkedIn.

Piotr Trzciński, Head of Investment – Poland at Savills Investment Management talked to Property Forum about the changes forced by pandemic on the investment market, financing conditions and the long-term strategies of major international players.

The Board of Directors of Atrium European Real Estate has received a proposal from Gazit Globe Limited to acquire the equity of Atrium that Gazit does not currently own for a consideration of €3.35 per share. An independent committee of the Atrium Board will review and consider the proposal.

Following their reopening in May, shopping centres have seen both their revenue and footfall increase to a rate exceeding the performance during the same period last year. The footfall was lower than in the pre-crisis year 2019, but the revenue was comparable; in fact, it was slightly higher. Supermarkets and hypermarkets fare the best in terms of revenue; electronics and health and beauty products are also doing well. The current performance of shopping centres can therefore be described as very strong, with figures exceeding initial expectations, and investors show renewed interest in properties again, with several major retail transactions being planned for this year and the next. To date, office and logistics properties have been selling the best this year.

Trei Real Estate GmbH will be opening its 26th retail park under the Vendo Park brand in Poland. It is located in Oswiecim, a small town of around 40,000 residents in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship in southern Poland. This latest Vendo Park has a leasing area of around 5,300 square metres and is leased to seven retailers and a supermarket. In total, Trei invested c. €7.2 million in the property. The new retail park is the first in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship.

The pandemic had a limited impact on the turnover of retail parks compared to shopping malls in Romania, according to real estate consultancy Cushman & Wakefield Echinox.