PL

CEE Romania remains an attractive market

Investment & finance
The total volume invested in income-producing real estate assets - office, retail, logistics and industrial spaces and hotels - in the Central and Eastern Europe returned to growth last year. According to Cushman & Wakefield Echinox experts, a positive evolution is mainly driven by the activity recorded in Romania and Slovakia.

Romania benefitted from an almost 40 pct increase of the investment volume, thus moving to the 3rd place in the region (after Poland and the Czech Republic) in this regard in 2022, according to data from the Cushman & Wakefield Echinox real estate consultancy company.

The total transactional volume at regional level reached almost EUR 10.7 bln in 2022, a 6.6 pct growth compared with 2021, while the market had previously seen a 4.3 pct contraction in 2021 vs 2020. Almost all countries in the region reported an upward movement in 2022, with the sole exception of the Czech Republic, which experienced a second consecutive year of decline. Therefore, Poland recorded a growth of 2.2 pct, while the investment volume in Slovakia was 45.9 pct higher y-o-y in 2022, with Hungary registering only a marginal increase of 0.4 pct.

In Romania, even though the number of transactions completed last year was slightly lower compared to 2021 (51 vs. 54), the total investment volume reached a historical record, of almost EUR 1.3 bln, out of which two thirds (EUR 944 mln) were signed in H2. A total of 12 properties were the subject of two major office and retail portfolio disposals.

In terms of asset class, the highest number of transactions pertained to office buildings - around 43 pct of the total 22, followed by retail properties (12). Moreover, 7 industrial and logistics assets have switched owners in the analyzed period.

The average price per transacted property also increased in 2022, reaching EUR 25 mln compared with EUR 17 mln in 2021. Moreover, the average sale price for office buildings rose by 4.6 pct to EUR 2,266/sqm, while the average price for retail properties was of around EUR 1,310/sqm compared with EUR 973/sqm in 2021. On the other hand, industrial assets registered a decrease to EUR 405/sqm versus EUR 503/sqm in 2021, a fact determined by a lack of transactions with prime properties.

In an environment with many uncertainties, the CEE real estate market continued to be an attractive investment alternative, especially in regard to the main real estate segments - office, retail and industrial. While foreign investors from mature markets, such as the United States, Germany or Sweden, remained dominant in the Polish market, closing the largest transactions, we have noticed an increasing activity of the domestic capital in the other markets. This comes as a result of a better understanding of the market particularities, with the local investors having a higher appetite for risk. As such, almost 40 pct of the investment volume recorded in the region in 2022 represents acquisitions made by local investors, the most active being Pavăl Holding from Romania (with investments of over EUR 450 mln in the country) and Adventum from Hungary (with acquisitions exceeding EUR 350 mln in Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland).
Cristi Moga, Head of Capital Markets Cushman & Wakefield Echinox

The largest transactions in Romania in terms of volume pertained to CA Immo’s sale of its Romanian office portfolio (6 buildings totaling 165,000 sqm) to Pavăl Holding Properties (Dedeman Group) and Prime Kapital’s disposal of its 60 pct interest in 6 retail parks (132,000 sqm GLA) to MAS Real Estate. The S Immo’s acquisition of the Expo Business Park office project from Portland Trust was the third transaction that crossed the EUR 100 mln threshold. These three deals account for more than half of the total volume recorded in 2022 in Romania.

The prime yields have seen an upward movement across all segments due to the increasing financing costs, in line with the trend registered in the entire CEE region, as the office and retail segments recorded a 25 bp spike, with a 15 bp rise for industrial & logistics assets respectively. Even though the increasing interest rates will continue to put pressure on the exit yields, Romania remains an attractive market, as the gap between the local benchmarks and the other CEE markets, such as the Czech Republic, Poland or Hungary is still relatively high in all market segments.

Latest news

Warehouse & industrial

Poland On track to reach 30 mln sqm

schedule 29 March 2023
Opr./edited by ANZ

In 2022, the Polish industrial and warehouse market maintained its solid growth momentum despite headwinds such as project financing constraints and rising occupancy costs. The expected decline in new supply and shrinking land availability are likely to result in a supply gap in the space of the next year or so, says real estate advisory firm Savills.

Warehouse & industrial

Polska More space for Reka Rubber

schedule 29 March 2023
Opr./edited by ANZ

Reka Rubber Polska, manufacturer of rubber products, will double its lease at MLP Poznań West to close to 4,000 sqm. The company is expected to move into the new facility in the second quarter of 2023.

Warehouse & industrial

POLAND CTP goes north – to Gdańsk

schedule 28 March 2023
Opr./edited by NN

Czech warehouse developer CTP has entered Poland’s Pomerania region, where it will soon be launching the construction of the 119,000 sqm CTPark Gdańsk Port.

Green projects

Poland Very Green Norblin

schedule 28 March 2023
Opr./edited by ANZ

Owned by the Capital Park Group, the Warsaw mixed use complex Norblin Factory has received the final BREEAM certificates for both its office and retail sections. A photovoltaic system has been installed in the complex, and the managers are continuing their efforts to steadily reduce the property’s carbon footprint.

Warehouse & industrial

Poland Panattoni goes fourth in Lublin

schedule 28 March 2023
Opr./edited by ANZ

Panattoni has started the construction of Panattoni Park Lublin IV. The two-building complex with 53,900 sqm should be completed later this year.

Warehouse & industrial

Poland Let there be light in Panattoni Park Sosnowiec II

schedule 28 March 2023
Opr./edited by ANZ

Lighting company Wojnarowscy has renewed a lease agreement for 3,870 sqm of warehouse and office space in Panattoni Park Sosnowiec II.

Warehouse & industrial

Germany Garbe will build in the Halle/Leipzig area

schedule 28 March 2023
Opr./edited by ANZ

Garbe has acquired a plot of land of around 100,000 sqm in Kabelsketal (Saxony-Anhalt, Germany). A logistics property with a total area of approx. 61,500 sqm is planned on the site. Garbe is investing around 76 mln euros in the project. Construction is scheduled to start in October.

Office & mixed-use development

Poland State-of-the-art furniture in Textorial Park

schedule 28 March 2023
Opr./edited by ANZ

Textorial Park office campus in Łódź welcomed a new tenant. .mdd, manufacturer of office furniture has leased 317 sqm in the historic Building A. The space occupied by .mdd comprises the company’s offices and a showroom.

Warehouse & industrial

Poland From gas bottling plant to Panattoni park

schedule 27 March 2023
Opr./edited by ANZ

Panattoni has started the development of 25,000 sqm of speculative space on ul. Dostawcza in Łódź. It is to be a brownfield development built on the site of a former gas bottling plant.

Residential

Poland Millions for Neo Natolin

schedule 27 March 2023
Opr./edited by ANZ

Real Management has announced funding for construction of the first stage of the Neo Natolin housing estate. The company has received funding of PLN 125 mln for the residential project which is being developed in Warsaw’s Wilanów district, at ul. Stefana Korbońskiego.

Hotels

Saudi Arabia 4,400 hotel rooms for the Holy City of Madinah

schedule 27 March 2023
Opr./edited by ANZ

Marriott International, announced it has signed an agreement with Rua Al Madinah Holding Company to open eight hotels in the Holy City of Madinah in Saudi Arabia.

Retail & leisure

Poland Glinianka is filling up

schedule 24 March 2023
Opr./edited by ANZ

Jysk, which took up around 1,300 sqm, and Piekarnia Cukiernia Grzybki bakery (around 170 sqm) are new tenants at the Glinianka retail park. The park is being built in the village of Łubna, near Warsaw, and will provide the Mazovian market with around 10,000 sqm of leasable space. 

Office & mixed-use development

Poland Intive flexible in Warsaw

schedule 24 March 2023
Opr./edited by ANZ

Intive global tech company has let 62 workstations in the flexible Myhive offices belonging to CPI Property Group.

Eurobuild FM

Warsaw - Cannes Big business under the palm trees (ep. 6)

schedule 23 March 2023
Eurobuild CEE

A huge bombshell for the finale of the Cannes podcast – as many as FIVE of the top experts in the last episode of the series! Some famous names and also some less well-known to us are now poised to enter the Polish market! And you can listen to them here!

Office & mixed-use development

Poland Vibe emerges from the ground

schedule 23 March 2023
Opr./edited by ANZ

The Vibe office building in Warsaw is now taking shape, with the completion of its underground structure.

Investment & finance

Czech Republic Strong CTP in the Czech Republic

schedule 23 March 2023
Opr./edited by ANZ

2022 was a successful year for the property developer CTP. The company, operating in 10 European countries, has successfully managed to deal with the impact of global events on the European market. In 2022, the portfolio area in the Czech Republic was expanded by 300,000 sqm, bringing the total area to 3.8 mln sqm. Rental income increased by 13 pct year-on-year to EUR 230.3 mln. At present, CTP is the largest player in the Czech industrial-logistics property market with a 28 pct share.

Investment & finance

Romania K+K Elisabeta bought for Peakture

schedule 23 March 2023
Opr./edited by ANZ

Lorand and Zsuzsanna Szarvadi, the owners of the Balvanyos Resort & Spa in Covasna, acquired the K+K Elisabeta hotel located in the Bucharest city centre, and they will relaunch it under the newly established Peakture hotel brand.

Residential

Poland Promising Polish PRS

schedule 23 March 2023
Opr./edited by JC

According to the latest Avison Young report, at the end of 2022, there were over 9.4 thousand units in the pool of apartments for institutional rent in Poland, and another 13 thousand flats were under construction. The prolonging conflict in Ukraine and the significantly reduced credit scores increase the demand for renting apartments and thus, affect the development of the PRS market in Poland.

Warehouse & industrial

Romania Sun Wave Pharma in CTPark Bucharest South

schedule 22 March 2023
Opr./edited by ANZ

CTP has leased an area of 2,800 sqm to the food supplements manufacturer Sun Wave Pharma in the industrial park CTPark Bucharest South, located in the south of Bucharest, in the Popești - Leordeni area. From here, the products of the company will be delivered to both Romania and Bulgaria, with the warehouse acting as a regional hub.

Office & mixed-use development

Poland Demand is strong, but renting expensive

schedule 22 March 2023
Opr./edited by ANZ

The scale of office investments carried out in Poland today is much smaller than in previous years, while the demand for space is still high, according to consultants from Walter Herz.

Latest in Investment & finance

schedule 23 March 2023

Strong CTP in the Czech Republic

2022 was a successful year for the property developer CTP. The company, operating in 10 European countries, has successfully managed to deal with the impact of global events on the European market. In 2022, the portfolio area in the Czech Republic was expanded by 300,000 sqm, bringing the total area to 3.8 mln sqm. Rental income increased by 13 pct year-on-year to EUR 230.3 mln. At present, CTP is the largest player in the Czech industrial-logistics property market with a 28 pct share.

schedule 23 March 2023

K+K Elisabeta bought for Peakture

Lorand and Zsuzsanna Szarvadi, the owners of the Balvanyos Resort & Spa in Covasna, acquired the K+K Elisabeta hotel located in the Bucharest city centre, and they will relaunch it under the newly established Peakture hotel brand.

schedule 20 March 2023

MLP has plans and has outcome

The value of MLP group’s investment properties rose 31 pct, to more than PLN 4.4 bln (EUR 945 mln). Consolidated revenue improved 39 pct y-o-y, to PLN 279.1 mln (EUR 59.5 mln), driven by an increase in leased area combined with higher rental rates. Last year, MLP group earned PLN 422.4 mln (EUR 90.1 mln) in net profit.

schedule 14 March 2023

Kajima and Griffin invest in green energy

Kajima Europe together with Griffin Capital Partners acquired a 70 pct stake in Hymon, a photovoltaic installation company. This is the second joint initiative by these partners in Poland's renewable energy market, having taken a majority stake in Pad RES, a developer in Poland's clean energy asset space, in 2021.

schedule 13 March 2023

Wiśniowy BP now an Appeninn place

Hungarian asset manager Appeninn Holding has acquired the four-building Wiśniowy Business Park in Warsaw from Cromwell Property Partners for an undisclosed sum.

schedule 10 March 2023

Newport Logistics Fund to invest EUR 50 mln

Newport Logistics Fund, which invests in warehouse properties in Europe, has raised EUR 50 mln for its first fund. Currently, work is underway to launch a second fund worth EUR 100 mln.

schedule 10 March 2023

UBH enters Poland via Wrocław

United Benefits Holding (UBH) of Austria has entered the Polish market with the acquisition of Wrocław's Silver Forum office building in an off-market deal. The company, which has so far operated mainly on the German-speaking market, is now planning further expansion in Poland.

schedule 10 March 2023

Adaptability remains a valuable trait

Geopolitics remains centre stage, inflation is set to remain a major issue, green and efficient buildings continue to be in focus, and office demand is recovering – these are some of the 10 top predictions for the CEE-6 in 2023 just revealed by Colliers.

schedule 09 March 2023

Wrocław offices for Austrian investor

Vienna,-based United Benefits Holding has entered the Polish market with the acquisition of the Silver Forum office building in Wroclaw. In an exclusive interview, Michael Klement, the CEO of the company, tells ‘Eurobuild’ about the company's plans for Poland and discusses the state of the investment market during the present crisis.

schedule 06 March 2023

CPD sells Solar and Koszykowa 69 stake

CPD has completed the sale of two properties in Warsaw for a combined PLN 31 mln – the Solar office building in the city’s Służewiec business district and a tenement building with offices on ul. Koszykowa in the city centre.

schedule 03 March 2023

REICO offloads Office Box

The REICO ČS Nemovitostní (RČSN) fund has sold the Office Box office building in Bratislava to Slovak telecoms service company Movys for an undisclosed sum.

schedule 01 March 2023

Shadows over Brno market

According to the experts from Cushman & Wakefield, the interest of international companies to locate their headquarters in Brno has gradually cooled. Decision-making processes have slowed down, attitudes are reserved and willingness to make long-term commitments is low.

schedule 01 March 2023

Eika enters Poland and picks up Celebro

White Stone has sold the Celebro office building in Warsaw for an undisclosed sum to a Lithuanian newcomer to the Polish market – Eika Asset Management, on behalf of the Eika Real Estate Fund.

schedule 28 February 2023

Electrifying news from Volvo

Volvo Cars has announced plans to open its first Tech Hub in Poland - the software development centre in Kraków is to play a key role in the company's strategy to become an all-electric brand and a leader in new technologies by 2030.

schedule 24 February 2023

Nepi Rockcastle breaks own record

Nepi Rockcastle has reported a record net operating income of EUR 405 mln in its 2022 full-year results - up 17 pct from 2021 and driven by strong tenant turnover and base rental growth. This performance was achieved against a challenging economic background, marked by high inflation, rising interest rates and the energy crisis triggered by the war in Ukraine.

schedule 17 February 2023

Domestic capital ruled in 2022

Markets are expected to remain subdued in H1 2023 due to the negative sentiment in the economy, the significantly higher financing costs and the subsequent pricing correction that is currently playing out in both CEE and many other global markets, reveals a report by Colliers: CEE Investment Scene 2022/2023.

schedule 16 February 2023

Investing and waiting for the EU billions

Report authors from BNP Paribas Real Estate Poland anticipate investment volumes for 2023 to remain on a par with last year and the long-term transactional activity to be driven by the billions of euros that Poland is likely to receive from the EU’s budget.

schedule 14 February 2023

The Catella story

In an exclusive interview with Eurobuild, Dariusz Węglicki, stepping down head of the Polish branch of Catella Residential Investment Management, reveals details surrounding the sale of the Złota 44 flat portfolio and the company's withdrawal from Poland

schedule 14 February 2023

Baltic Horizon offloads Domus Pro

Baltic Horizon Fund has signed an agreement to sell the Domus Pro office building and retail park in Vilnius to Lithuanian fund UAB PREF III for app. EUR 23.5 mln.

schedule 13 February 2023

Echo Investment sums up 2022

Six office buildings sold, another five buildings with occupancy permits, nearly 45,000 sqm of offices leased, the development of the food & beverage segment and the strengthening of the diverse offer of Libero Katowice and Galeria Młociny - these are the developer's key activities in 2022.

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