Mitiska REIM, a specialist investor in European retail parks, announced a major new strategic partnership with Karuzela Holding. Under the terms of the agreement, Mitiska REIM and Karuzela will form a joint venture in Poland, and Mitiska REIM’s FRI 2 fund will acquire a 50% holding in 2 retail parks and 2 gallerias owned by Karuzela, with a total gross leasable area (GLA) of 35,600 sqm, and both parties will co-develop 4 additional projects with a total GLA of approximately 60,000 sqm.

AFI Europe announced that it would start building a retail park in Arad by the end of this year. The developer will invest €40 million in the project located on an 80,000 sqm land plot, zf.ro reports.

Oasis Retail Development & Consulting has entered into a partnership with Austrian-based group Supernova for the development of Prima Shopping Center Sibiu. The 40,000 sqm retail park is located north of the city centre.

Bluehouse completed the acquisition of Novodvorska Plaza shopping centre in Prague. CBRE represented the buyer in the off-market acquisition of the 25,000 sqm shopping centre.

Construction works have started on the extension of the Colosseum commercial centre in the northwestern part of Bucharest. Colosseum Mall represents the most important retail development in Bucharest during the last three years, a period during which the purchasing power per capita at the city level increased by almost 20%.

Indotek Group has come to an agreement with CA Immo on the purchase of the 16,500 sqm DunaCenter retail park in the Hungarian city of Győr in November 2018. The seller was represented by Colliers International during the deal.

Galeria Bronowice, managed by Ceetrus Poland, received the BREEAM-In-Use Certificate with the highest “Excellent” rating. The document confirms that the facility in Kraków is an environmentally-friendly building operating in accordance with the principles of sustainable development. Galeria Bronowice received this distinction in two categories, for building management and for the building itself.

December is a time for Romania to score positive results for sales at supermarkets, hypermarkets or discounters as well as for gifts, offering generous returns for retailers in shopping centres and preferring apparel rather than electronic goods relative to other Europeans. The season’s celebrations are a recurring highlight each year for the office segment as well, as both landlords and tenants invest in promoting the holiday spirit.

Developer Nova Imobiliare has started the construction works for Colosseum Mall as part of the expansion plan for its Colosseum shopping centre. The construction of the mall will be carried out by Axa Trans Construct, designated as the general contractor following a selection process.

Portuguese group Sonae Sierra announced that it purchased the 50% stake held by its former Joint Venture partner Caelum Development in Bucharest’s ParkLake shopping centre with the intention of consolidating its presence in Romania.