Cushman & Wakefield has published its new CE industrial map to give a comprehensive overview of the most important logistics and industrial sites in Central Europe, Russia and Germany. In addition, this year’s edition has been expanded with figures for Italy’s Milan.

Immofinanz has signed several lease agreements since the beginning of the calendar year 2016 accounting for approximately 40,000 sqm of its Hungarian portfolio. Of this figure, prolongation of leases accounts for more than 25,500 sqm, and new and expanded contracts sum up at 14,500 sqm.

“Total commercial real estate investment in the Czech Republic recorded €490m in Q2 2016 contributing to an H1 2016 total of €950 million, a 26% reduction on the same period of last year. However, it should be noted that the considerable difference is due to the Palladium shopping centre transaction in H1 2015. When excluded, H1 2016 was 34% up on H1 2015,” says Jiri Horak, investment analyst at JLL.     

Award-winning UK architecture practice Make Architects has been appointed to design a state-of-the-art office building in Bratislava’s Central Business District. HB Reavis has been chosen as the development manager of the new mixed-use scheme which will be developed on the site of the current Apollo Business Centre I.

Central European commercial property markets are expected to attract even more investors than last year and the competition among countries is fiercer than ever. What does it take to change lost lasting perceptions and secure interest from international buyers? Andy Thompson MRICS, Director of Investment Services at Colliers International talked to us in Bratislava about recent developments on the Czech and Slovakian markets.

Prologis has signed a lease agreement with Grupa Allegro, the largest e-commerce platform in Poland, for 21,950 square metres at Prologis Park Błonie. The transaction involves 13,100 square metres of space that has been leased now and an additional 8,850 square metres that will be leased in 2017.

The sharp rebound of the Hungarian real estate investment market witnessed in H2 2015 has gained further momentum during the first half of this year. According to JLL the transaction volume of the first semester reached more than EUR 910 million, already more than during the full 2015 year, highlighting the increasing weight of capital targeting Hungarian assets.

Two-thirds of real estate markets globally have shown progress in levels of transparency over the past two years, according to JLL and LaSalle Investment Management’s 2016 Global Real Estate Transparency Index (GRETI). The ten countries identified as “Highly Transparent” by GRETI account for 75 percent of global investments into commercial real estate, highlighting the extent to which market transparency drives real estate investment decisions. Poland registered an excellent result in this year’s index and stands just outside the top ten, while other countries in the CEE region have also improved their results.

Echo Investment has obtained a building permit for the construction of Galeria Libero, which is to be built on Kościuszki Street in the southern part of Katowice. The investor also concluded a contract with the city authorities concerning the road layout around the facility.

GTC has announced the acquisition of Neptun Office Center and Sterlinga Business Center, located in Gdańsk and Łódź respectively. These two Class A office buildings, featuring modern design and a total GLA of 30,000 sqm and 364 parking places, will enrich the Group’s Polish investment portfolio.