Avestus Capital Partners, an Irish real estate investment and asset manager, sold a landmark office building in the heart of Sofia. Moskovska Business Center changed its owner after several months of negotiations with strong interest from local and foreign investors. The buyer is a Bulgarian company owned by private investors with interests in different fields of business. The transaction price has not been disclosed. Cushman & Wakefield Forton acted as an exclusive advisor to the seller.

2017 was a record breaking year for the Bulgarian office market with almost 200,000 sqm take-up in Sofia. The investment volume has also been the strongest ever with €1 billion invested in commercial property (land acquisitions included) from which income generating assets hold €870 million. Cushman & Wakefield Forton summarised 2017 on the Bulgarian office, retail and industrial markets.

At ca. €12.98 billion, 2017 recorded a 3.3% increase over 2016 (€12.56 billion) and, for the second year running, set a new record transaction volume for the CEE region. JLL has registered continued appetite from investors for the full range of assets across the entire region.

In the next two years Delta Holding plans to invest €600 million in real estate projects in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Bulgaria.

GTC has signed a €60 million refinancing and investment loan with Raiffeisen Bank International AG for the refinancing of Green Heart, its new office project in Serbia. The office park has already reached a prelease level of 42%.

Greece's Alpha Astika Akinita has sold its Serbian subsidiary Alpha Real Estate to Mat Real Estate for €8.4 million euro. The transaction was carried out on November 28, Alpha Bank’s subsidiary announced on the Athens Stock Exchange.

Strong economic growth, booming tourism and increasing construction activity characterise one of the least well-known markets of the CEE/SEE region. Total office stock in the capital barely exceeds 100,000 sqm, which results in one of the highest rental fees in the region. The situation is, however, about to change as new mixed-use projects of higher quality should increase the pressure on landlords. Stela Dhami, Managing Partner at Colliers International shared us her positive outlook on the Albanian market.

GTC Serbia announced that it has managed to secure lease agreements with several new brands for its latest Belgrade development, Ada Mall. The opening of the 34,000 sqm mall is scheduled for autumn 2018.

Aberdeen Asset Management has sold the King Cross shopping centre in Zagreb to SES Spar European Shopping Centers. The transaction price has not been disclosed.

Robust GDP growth, wage rises and price inflation are the drivers of retail sales across the CEE region, says Colliers International in its latest research report. Key findings of the report include: