Retail group NEPI Rockcastle secured a green loan worth €73.5 million from International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of World Bank, in a bid to expand its sustainable business infrastructure in Romania. 

Awaiting the reopening of shops and service outlets to go shopping at traditional brick-and-mortar stores, positive footfall results achieved by most shopping centres in May, the opening of a second Primark store with a third one in the pipeline, plus a strong debut of a new Polish off-price concept – these are some of the key news and developments to have taken place in the retail sector in Q2 2021, according to BNP Paribas Real Estate.

CBRE acted as an advisor to Patria Investiční společnost in the acquisition of a portfolio of two retail parks for the newly established Patria Logistics and Retail Fund from the Czech development group KPD. The two assets are the Ovčáry Retail Park in Kolín with a retail area of ​​8,950 square meters and tenants such as Lidl, Sinsay, Teta, Pepco, Tedi and Deichmann, and the Mohelnice Retail Park with an area of ​​approximately 2,750 square meters and long-term tenants, which are Mountfield and Jysk.

Polish developer Scallier has purchased a retail project in Timișoara from Oasis Group for an undisclosed sum. 

Tenants are responding to the change in customer preferences and are now increasingly likely to choose retail premises in modern residential areas. As JLL found in Miasteczko Wilanów in Warsaw, 2021 has seen the number of ground floor units grow by more than 100, an almost 25% increase on 2018. This trend is not limited to the capital city.

The increasing number of vaccinations is allowing the retail sector to catch its breath, with customers returning to ‘brick-and-mortar’ stores. JLL forecasts that total new supply could hit 540,0000 sqm in 2021, marking a return to pre-pandemic performances.

According to the last few months’ most active investor on the Slovak market, investment activity is returning to normal. Martin Šmigura, investment manager of WOOD & Company’s real estate operations in Slovakia, talked to Property Forum about the company’s recent investment deals and shared his market expectations.

The new Acteeum project – Koszalin Power Center – developed in cooperation with Leroy Merlin and Agata Meble has just gained a food anchor. As part of the largest shopping complex in the Koszalin region, Lidl will open its large-format supermarket with an area of 2,000 sqm. The construction of the Power Center in Koszalin will start this year and the opening is planned for the second half of 2022.

Affan Yildirim, General Manager and Board Member at Romania-based real estate developer Anchor Grup talked to Property Forum about business strategy and shared his expectations for the Romanian economy and the property investment market in 2021.

Outlet centres in Europe continue to grow in terms of numbers and retail sales area. As the Wiesbaden-based research institute ecostra reports on the basis of its ongoing market monitoring, 4 outlet centres and a retail sales area of almost 55,000 sqm were added on balance in Europe in the past 12 months