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.

Total investments in commercial real estate in Slovakia in the first half of 2021 reached €478 million, which almost equalled the volume of investments for the entire previous year.

Austrian privately held development company Karimpol Group officially launched the construction of the Squarebizz project in Bratislava. The first phase consists of 15,000 sqm of retail, storage, service and showroom facilities accompanied by up to 2,000 sqm of offices in three separate buildings. A second construction phase will extend the Squarebizz Bory by another 15,000 sqm of modern flexible space plus offices.

Garbe Industrial Real Estate GmbH enters the Slovak market with an acquisition of land with a zoning permit comprising 70,000 sqm. This follows the company’s successful start of activities on the Czech market. Garbe’s plans in Piešťany include the new development of two buildings with a total size of 26,000 sqm.   

One of Slovakia’s and the region’s largest developers continues to focus on mixed-use projects across its markets. Pavel Pelikán, Executive Director at JTRE talked to Property Forum about the company’s recent transactions, ongoing projects and the UK business.

The industrial and logistics market is booming across the region with e-commerce and logistic companies being the main drivers of growth from the tenant side. Laurent Jechoux, Business Director at Czech industrial developer Contera talked to Property Forum about current projects, market trends and the company’s entry into the office market.

In Q1 2021, home prices in Slovakia increased by only 2% compared to Q1 2020. The prices of new dwellings increased by 2.6% and prices of used dwellings rose by 1.5%, the Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic announced.

Wood & Company has obtained a loan of €229.5 million, one of the highest amounts in the Slovak real estate market, to refinance the debt of the Aupark shopping centre in Bratislava. The financing will be provided by several European banking groups, all of which have operated historically in Slovakia. 

GLP has leased 20,000 sqm of logistics space across two logistics parks in Czech Republic and Slovakia. The company is developing further GLP Parks in Ostrava and Brno, with an additional two developments in the pipeline for next year.

Slovenská sporiteľňa Asset Management’s ERSTE Realitná Renta real estate fund has bought Bratislava-based Zuckermandel’s office part from J&T Real Estate. This represents the 2019-founded fund’s first property portfolio acquisition.