Skanska’s commercial development unit in CEE has announced the appointment of Aurelia Luca as Managing Director for Skanska Property Romania. She will also become a permanent member of Skanska CEE’s commercial development unit Management Team with immediate effect.

Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets (MIRA), a division of the Macquarie Group, and GLL Real Estate Partners (GLL), the Munich-based real estate fund manager, announced they have signed an agreement which will see GLL become the real estate equity investment platform for MIRA in Europe and the Americas operating under its own brand. The terms of the transaction remain confidential.

In 2017 the residential market took the lead in terms of land deals, recording all-time highs for both the number and value of sale/purchase contracts. The market for land suitable for office buildings and hotels also continued apace in 2017. The appetite of developers for new purchases was underlined by deals for several dozen properties throughout Poland, according to JLL.

M7 Real Estate has completed the sale of Oregon House in Prague on behalf of M7 Central European Real Estate Fund I (M7 CEREF I) to BHS German Real Estate Fund.

The European retail market has changed drastically and market players looking to stay in the race need to invest in innovation. Although there is no definite recipe for success, the general consensus is that offline stores need to transform into places that provide an experience. Panellists at the RICS European Retail Conference 2018 in Milan provided an insight into the key industry developments

As of 01 March, Géza Barabás will lead the S Immo subsidiary in Budapest and hence be responsible for the Hungarian portfolio’s management.

Panattoni Europe is expanding Central European Logistics Hub. The new tenant at the developer’s largest distribution centre is the Media Expert chain, which will take up a facility with approx. 73,300 sqm of space. Construction works will start in Q2 of 2018.

Cushman & Wakefield is further expanding its presence in the Czech Republic. It will open a new regional office in the Trinity Office Center in the centre of Brno. Its focus will be on regional office market, but will offer to its clients consulting services from other real estate sectors as well. Lukáš Netolický will be leading the office and at the same time becomes the Head of Regional Cities CZ. The new office will open in March 2018. Cushman & Wakefield is therefore responding to the steadily growing trend of regional market development fuelled by the economic growth. Brno is the most active city in terms of demand, followed by Ostrava.

Recent changes in Sunday trading laws and commercial property tax regulations have not discouraged investors, both the existing well-established players as well as new entrants to the market. Similarly to the previous year, the portfolio transactions in 2018 are expected to account for a significant share in the total investment volume. Jędrzej Suchowolec, Senior Advisor at Cresa Poland, commented on current investors’ interest in retail properties.

Avestus Capital Partners, an Irish real estate investment and asset manager, sold a landmark office building in the heart of Sofia. Moskovska Business Center changed its owner after several months of negotiations with strong interest from local and foreign investors. The buyer is a Bulgarian company owned by private investors with interests in different fields of business. The transaction price has not been disclosed. Cushman & Wakefield Forton acted as an exclusive advisor to the seller.