Austrian real estate group Immofinanz will start the refurbishment of shopping centre VIVO! Baia Mare on June 1. The works on the project located in northern Romania will cover more than 10,000 sqm, which is one third of the total surface of the centre. 

In the 11 shopping streets under the umbrella of the Shopping Street Management (BUM), some 90% of businesses survived the coronavirus pandemic, and the number of stores for sale or rent is decreasing in more and more places, BUM told Hungarian news wire MTI based on its survey carried out at the beginning of May.

The pandemic has caused a lot of change on the market but these changes can easily be viewed as an opportunity for further growth as Jonathan Hallett, Head of Central & Eastern Europe at Cushman & Wakefield demonstrates. He talked to Property Forum about the results of the last year and shared his expectations for the future of work and the CEE advisory market.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has successfully subscribed to a €24.7 million ticket as part of an inaugural five-year €300 million green bond issuance by MAS Securities BV. The firm is wholly owned by MAS Real Estate Inc., an investor and operator of predominantly retail real estate assets that focuses on CEE.

Retailer Penny, part of Rewe Group, has announced a long-term investment program in Romania that includes the expansion of the store network and the development of logistics operations. 

GTC’s rental and service revenues decreased by €3.8 million to €37 million in Q1 2021 from €41 million in Q1 2020. Profit before tax and fair value adjustments for Q1 2021 reached €15 million, up from €13 million in Q1 2020. The company published its financial results for Q1 2021.

Shopping centre footfall in February in Poland, prior to the fourth lockdown, averaged approximately 80% of last year’s levels. Shoppers will return to shopping centres once restrictions are lifted, say experts of Cushman & Wakefield.

LCP has signed a purchase contract for a retail park in Rawa Mazowiecka, located between Warsaw and Łódź. It offers over 2,700 sqm of GLA and 45 parking spaces. The size of the entire plot is over 5,200 sqm. Among the tenants are Kik, Dealz, Martes Sport and CCC.

Close to 70,000 sqm of new retail space was delivered to the Polish market in Q1 2021, reveals Cushman & Wakefield. The new supply was dominated by small retail parks and standalone stores.

At the end of March 2021 the Dino network numbered 1,532 stores, up 298 versus March 2020. 59 new stores were opened in Q1 2021. The EBITDA margin in Q1 2021 was 8.8%, i.e. 0.2 percentage points above the corresponding period of 2020.