Goodman Group has signed two lease agreements for a total of 7,800 sqm at the Pomeranian Logistics Centre (PLC), located adjacent to the Deepwater Container Terminal (DCT) in Gdańsk. With these new agreements, all available space (51,500 sqm) at PLC is now fully leased. In response to market demand, Goodman is also constructing 15,836 sqm of class-A warehousing at PLC, which will be delivered in the third quarter of 2016. 

Diófa Fund Management has announced the purchase of Europark shopping centre in Budapest from Unibail Rodamco. The acquisition is a result of a one year long and constructive cooperation between the parties and was entirely funded by own capital. Due to new investment fund restrictions it is highly possible that this was the first and last shared deal on the market.  

HB Reavis Group and HB Reavis CE REIF fund have jointly sold for €79 million a 132,000 sqm portfolio of logistics centres in the Czech Republic and Slovakia to Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets, part of the Macquarie Group, one of the largest global investment banking and diversified financial services groups in the world. The fully-occupied portfolio consists of 2 assets owned by HB Reavis Group and 2 assets held by HBR CE REIF.

Within two months OTP Real Estate Investment Fund has already added the second logistics property to its portfolio. The 35,000 sqm warehouse complex is located in South-Pest, within the Gyál Business Park, near the M5 motorway and several multinational companies. The transaction is part of OTP Real Estate Investment Fund Management’s ongoing portfolio development, therefore further transactions can be expected in 2016.

A new distribution centre for Tesco is being built at SEGRO Logistics Park Poznań. The company will start operations in the BTS building comprising over 30 000 sqm at the turn of September and October 2016. Deliveries to 140 retail outlets in the northern and north-western regions of Poland will be completed from the new central warehouse.

Prologis has signed a 42,170 square metre build-to-suit (BTS) agreement with Agata at Prologis Park Piotrków II in Poland. Real estate agency CBRE facilitated the transaction.

German asset and investment manager KGAL has purchased the Eiffel Square office building located in Budapest, representing the largest office transaction in Hungary in 2016 and marking the return of core investors in Hungary. 

The face of commercial property development in Bucharest has changed a lot over the past decade. Developers, investors, tenants and landlords have come together from all over Romania to talk about the office and retail markets at SEE Property Forum 2016, co-organised by Portfolio Conferences and RICS. We report from Bucharest.   

Global financial services firm Brown Brothers Harriman (BBH) has signed a lease for an additional 7,500 square meters of office space in the Brown Brothers Harriman building at Kraków’s Orange Office Park. Now in Phase III of its building expansion, BBH will occupy over 14,500 square meters. Cushman & Wakefield represented BBH in the negotiations. Wardyński & Partners provided legal advice.

The future of cities is in the hands of today’s urban planners and real estate developers. Their decision will determine how an urban area can perform on an increasingly competitive global scene. Creating a city that attracts innovators and investors is in everybody’s interest, but all must be done in a smart, sustainable and responsible way. We report from Bucharest where Portfolio Conferences and RICS have organised SEE Property Forum for the second time.