Slovakia continues to maintain its reputation as a safe investment location with competitive yields. The total volume of commercial real estate transactions in Slovakia in 2020 amounted to €502 million. This is a 27% decrease compared to the previous year, which is due to increased investor caution and, in part, a reduced appetite for retail assets due to uncertainty about the impact of the pandemic on their future development, according to a summary by Cushman & Wakefield.

The third fund of Czech investor Arete Group has acquired a modern, highly specialized production facility with a research and development centre and with the potential for further development in Kežmarok, Slovakia. The value of the investment exceeded €10 million.

Dutch-Czech real estate investment company Fidurock has obtained a zoning decision for the construction of a new retail park in Piešťany, Western Slovakia. The company acquired the land plot back in July 2018.

Cromwell EREIT Management Pte. Ltd., the manager of Cromwell European Real Estate Investment Trust announced that it will be acquiring a portfolio comprising 11 logistics and light industrial properties in the Czech Republic and Slovakia for an aggregate purchase price of €113.2 million, on a net operating income yield of 6.7%. The seller is Arete Invest, acting on behalf of its sub-fund Arete Invest Podfond CEE II

Evax Holding GmbH, a company owned by Peter Korbačka’s Eurovea Services, has purchased 3,836,988 shares of S Immo AG, corresponding to a 5.21% stake, from Etamin GmbH & Co KG. The transaction, which took place on 12 November, has made the Slovak businessman the third largest shareholder in the Austrian company.

The Lakeside Park 02 project, developed in Bratislava's Nové Mesto area by Immocap and WOOD & Company, received construction and investment financing from Slovenská sporiteľňa in the amount of €24 million.

YIT Slovakia has completed the reconstruction of the Pradiareň 1900 office building in Bratislava. Starting from December 2020, the Slovak branch of Microsoft will move into the premises as the first tenant.

Ehlebracht, an international company with a production site in Michalovce, is moving to ctPark Košice. Construction on the 8,916 sqm hall should start this November with handover scheduled for the end of 2021. The production enlargement will bring 60 to 80 new jobs to the region.

VÚB banka and UniCredit Bank have provided developer J&T Real Estate with a €105 million syndicated loan for the construction of Eurovea’s extended residential part, which will include approximately 500 apartments in Eurovea Tower - Slovakia’s very first skyscraper - and waterfront residences (Eurovea Riverside). This loan is one of the largest granted for a Slovak development project in recent years. Dentons prepared the contract documentation.

As of September, Omar Sattar, a real estate professional with more than 25 years of experience in the sector at companies like DTZ, Avestus Capital Partners, and Colliers International, has taken over the management of the real estate investment team of the Czech and Slovak investment platform Crowdberry. The company now provides private investors with a greater volume of specific investment opportunities in high-quality residential projects and commercial real estate.