News

Retail & leisure

Krosno’s Miejsce Piastowe now open

POLAND Rank Progress has opened a new retail park in Miejsce Piastowe near Krosno. The 4,700 sqm retail scheme, which will offer 230 parking spaces, was constructed by AMB Group.

Hotels

First Alto hotel almost ready

POLAND The first Alto hotel is set to open at the beginning of 2015 in Żory. The Alto brand, operated and owned by the Polish hotel chain Qubus, was created to serve minor Polish markets.

Investment & finance

Passerinvest buys back BB Centrum Alpha

CZECH REPUBLIC Czech development and investment company Passerinvest Group has completed the acquisition of the Alpha building of the BB Centrum office park in Prague.

Investment & finance

Starwood Capital Group buys 50,000 sqm Kraków project

POLAND Starwood Capital Group has acquired through its property investment fund, Starwood Distressed Opportunity Fund X, the app. 48,800 sqm Quattro Business Park in Kraków from the Polish developer Buma Group. The parties did not disclose terms of the transaction.

Retail & leisure

Grona Park in Zielona Góra opens

POLAND The Grona Park shopping centre, a project by Vantage Development, has been opened in Zielona Góra.

Europe’s largest mall opens

RUSSIA The giant Aviapark shopping centre has been opened in Khodynskoe Pole in northwest Moscow.

Warehouse & industrial

MLP to build 45,000 sqm for Piotr i Paweł

POLAND MLP Group has been commissioned by food chain Piotr i Paweł to build 45,000 sqm of warehouse space.

Technology

Marriott installs wireless chargers in hotel lobbies

UNITED STATES Marriott has rolled out a network of lobby wireless charging stations at some of its US hotels to help guests endure battery lives of their mobile devices without using power cords.

Office & mixed-use development

Budapest's Nordic Light kicks off

HUNGARY Skanska Property Hungary has started the construction work on its 26,200 sqm gla Budapest office building, Nordic Light. The project’s first, 6,600 sqm stage is scheduled to be completed in the first quarter of 2016.

Tickets sold out

Investment & finance

Ghelamco secures loan for Mokotów building

POLAND Ghelamco Invest has been granted a loan from PKO BP for the financing of an office project in the Mokotów business district of Warsaw.

Warehouse & industrial

EBRD pours EUR 23 mln into Romanian sweet factory

ROMANIA The European Bank of Reconstruction and Development is providing a EUR 23 mln loan to support the construction of a 75,800 greenfield confectionery factory in Ghercești near the Romanian city of Craiova in the southern part of the country.

Office & mixed-use development

NCR and JCDecaux in River Garden Office II/III

CZECH REPUBLIC US retail tech firm NCR and French outdoor advertising company JCDecaux have leased a combined area of 4,400 sqm in the recently completed River Garden Office II/III complex in Prague’s Karlín district.

Investment & finance

Prologis buys 50,000 sqm Invesco property

POLAND Prologis European Properties Fund II (PEPF II) has acquired a 50,000 sqm Invesco Real Estate logistics facility in Stryków near Łódź that is currently being entirely leased to the DIY and home décor retailer Castorama. The warehousing property will now be named Prologis Park Stryków II.

Investment & finance

Warsaw Okęcie plot up for sale

POLAND Airport Village, a subsidiary of the Military Property Agency (Agencja Mienia Wojskowego), has put up for sale a 1,660 sqm land plot situated by the Warsaw Chopin Airport in Warsaw’s Okęcie area.

Construction

Work begins on Business Garden Warszawa’s second phase

POLAND Inter Ikea Property Division-owned development company Vastint Poland has signed a contract with Hochtief Polska on the construction of five office buildings that are being developed as part of the second, 56,000 sqm gla stage of the Business Garden Warszawa office and retail/ services complex in Warsaw.

CEE attracts investors despite Russian-Ukrainian tension

CEE REGION While global investors expect Western European investment volumes to continue to grow this year (59 pct) and next year (56 pct), their sentiment over CEE investment conditions is not as positive: 52 pct expect the CEE market conditions to deteriorate, as compared to 32 pct last year, while app. 40 pct expect CEE volumes to fall in 2014 and 2015, according to a Colliers International study.

Warehouse & industrial

Movements in Czech CTP parks

CZECH REPUBLIC German auto parts distributor Trost has moved into one of the six CTBox warehousing units in CTPark Plzeň.

Warehouse & industrial

Investa expands in Segro Logistics Park Stryków

POLAND Stainless steel product supplier Investa has extended its 15,00 sqm lease in Segro Logistics Park Stryków by another 1,500 sqm.

Technology

Skanska tests 3D concrete printing

UNITED KINGDOM Swedish construction and development giant Skanska has teamed up with a British university to develop the use of 3D printing in the construction industry. The partnership aims to develop the world’s first commercial concrete printing robot that would revolutionize the construction process and supply chain.