Total demand on the Budapest industrial market amounted to 88,230 sqm in Q4 2019, indicating a 16% decrease on a yearly basis. Leasing activity was driven by renewals (86%), followed by expansion (12.8%) and new leases (2.6%). The Budapest Research Forum published its quarterly industrial market analysis.

Panattoni Europe continues its expansion in north-eastern Poland. The developer has leased out 100 per cent of space at Panattoni Park Białystok I and announced the development of the second distribution centre in the heart of Podlasie. Additional 35,000 sqm will be delivered this year at Panattoni Park Białystok II.

Hungarian developer Infogroup has acquired the 33 ha Heliport Industrial Park in Kecskemét. The property offers nearly 40,000 square meters of industrial and logistics space, making this the largest acquisition in the company’s history. The transaction was made with the co-investment of the Kecskemét Development Fund.

Madison International Realty has acquired a 46.5 per cent equity stake in European Logistics Investment platform (ELI), a circa €500 million Polish real estate portfolio, from majority owner Redefine Properties Limited, a South-African based Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT). The transaction is Madison’s first major logistics acquisition in Europe as it looks to increase its exposure to the asset class.

Invesco Real Estate has sold two build-to-suit distribution centres in Poland totalling 105,000 sqm to Chinese investment company CGL Investment Holdings Corporation. The sale was made on behalf of Invesco’s strategic opportunities investment programme and the corporate transaction has set new records for the market with assets valued based on a record yield for the Polish logistics market of 4.25%. The purchase price was not disclosed.

Demand for industrial and logistics space in Romania in 2019 reached a total of about 476.000 square meters, a value comparable to that of 2018, when the transactions amounted to a total of 514.000 square meters, according to JLL.

Prologis has started the development of a 21,000 square meter speculative facility at the fully occupied Prologis Park Prague-Uzice in the Czech Republic. The facility will be completed in Q2 2020 and it will offer flexible space solutions for all types of business – logistics/storage or production, with unit sizes starting at 4,500 square meters. It has further development potential for up to another 42,000 square meters.

GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, has signed an agreement to acquire a pan-European logistics real estate portfolio (Maximus) from funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management, Inc., a leading global alternative investment manager, for a net consideration of approximately €950 million. This acquisition is in line with GIC’s strategy to scale up its fully-owned P3 logistics platform and reinforce P3’s position as a leading developer and manager of logistics properties in Europe. 

The most active logistics developer in Hungary plans to expand its portfolio by 100-150 thousand sqm every ear. Rudolf Nemes, Country Manager of CTP Hungary talked to Property Forum about the ongoing changes on the Hungarian logistics market.

CTP recently announced Arcadis, ADP and CEVRE as winners of the tender for certifying CTP’s entire portfolio of buildings. Winners were chosen based on track record, capability, ESG activity and cost. Key to the winning the tender was sufficient resources available to certify all 293 buildings in six countries within the timeframe. CTP plans to have all 293 buildings certified by the end of June 2020. The certification process will require close cooperation and transparency among the various parties and each party has dedicated teams to complete the task by the agreed deadline. In total, CTP expects to invest up to €1.2 million into the certification process.