ARTICLES LABELLED WITH TAG Focus Estate Fund

More than ten thousand Ukrainian refugees have already applied for help at the Temporary Support Centre for Refugees (TOWU) in Turawa Park  (Opole, Poland). Just a few days ago TOWU signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with the Polish branch of the Red Cross.

Maxim Shkolnick, General Partner at CEE-based retail investor Focus Estate Fund talked to Property Forum about recent acquisitions in Poland, the Covid-driven evolution of the retail market and the astonishing popularity of convenience centres among investment funds.

Ukrainian real estate investment fund Focus Estate Fund has acquired the Turawa Park shopping center in Opole, Poland from international investment management group abrdn for an undisclosed sum. Turawa Park with a total area of 35,138 sqm is the fourth asset of the Fund’s portfolio in Poland.

Focus Estate Fund has finalized the deal on the sale of two of its retail properties in the Czech Republic to investment group DRFG – Centro Ostrava Retail Park (7 699 sqm GLA) in Ostrava and Most Retail Park (6 471 sqm GLA) in Most. The Fund acquired these assets in 2016 and 2017, respectively. As of the date of the transaction, both properties were 100% leased.

Focus Estate Fund has signed a loan agreement with BNP Paribas Bank Polska for €13.5 million. The funds will be used to increase the Polish portfolio of FEF, as well as for further improvements at three fund’s properties in Poland. It refers to Eden Retail Park in Zgorzelec (GLA - 9,537 sqm), Galeria Sandomierz in Sandomierz (GLA - 4,383 sqm) and Galeria Awangarda in Bartoszyce (GLA - 6,056 sqm). This is not the first deal with BNP Paribas Bank Polska, the bank has already financed the Fund's assets.

Focus Estate Fund has received refinancing from BNP Paribas Bank Polska for its Polish portfolio of retail assets, shopping centres Galeria Sandomierz (Sandomierz) and Galeria Awangarda (Bartoszyce) with a total area of more than 10,000 square meters.

The redevelopment of the Eden Park retail park in Zgorzelec (Poland) has been completed, commissioning documents have been received and the rental campaign of the updated retail park is in full swing.

Two retail parks in the Czech portfolio of the Focus Estate Fund end their year with zero vacancy: Most Retail Park (GLA – 6,471 sqm) in the city of Most and Centro Ostrava Retail Park (GLA – 7,699 sqm) in the city of Ostrava.

During its reconstruction, Eden Park Handlowy in Zgorzelec, Poland has changed its format from a shopping centre into a retail park with the total GLA increasing to 10,000 sqm. At the moment the park is actively filling its leasing areas. Agreements have been signed with several companies recently.

Investment fund Focus Estate Fund has set the goal to expand the geography of its presence in Central and Eastern Europe. In the next two years, the Fund plans to more than double its portfolio by strengthening its position in the niche of medium-sized commercial real estate in Poland and the Czech Republic, as well as by entering the Slovak market.