Coffee with Craig Show – daily CRE news covering the CEE region, Friday, September 16, with Winston Norman, Editor and Chief of EuropaProperty.com.
Prologis buys European logistics portfolio from Crossbay
Prologis Europe has significantly scaled up its urban offering across the continent with more than a million square meters of core logistics space. On behalf of its open-ended vehicle PELF, the company has acquired 128 buildings and 6 developments in key urban gateway locations from last-mile operator Crossbay. The agreed price was €1.585 billion.
“This acquisition underscores our ongoing ability to provide our customers with quality urban logistics locations and opportunities beyond the real estate near highly populated areas that serve their growth needs,” says Ben Bannatyne, President, of Prologis Europe. “With the ongoing growth of e-commerce, locations near dense population centres are becoming increasingly important to our customers.”
All properties and developments are located within or in close proximity to major population centres.
HR Group takes over Austrian Vienna House and operating companies
Berlin-based HR Group takes over the Austrian Vienna House hotel company and its operating companies. The merger also includes the timely acquisition of all Vienna House properties from Vienna House Capital and U City. HRG’s goal is to build a pioneering hotel company and thus become Europe’s leading owner-operator with a strong multi-brand platform. In parallel, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts will acquire the Vienna House brand.
Ruslan Husry, Chief Executive Officer, and sole owner of HRG commented: “We now have an enormous fund of hotel expertise and a portfolio that will grow together into a new strong company.”
The merger with Vienna House brings the number of hotels owned, leased, and managed by HRG to 145 as well as 20 signed projects.
Geoff Ballotti, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts President and Chief Executive Officer, explains his decision to buy the individual brand: “Vienna House’s guest-centric culture, strong brand recognition, and ambitious brand development plans align with our distribution goals, making it a perfect match to continue our international growth and reinforce our position and commitment to the region.”
“Over the past years, the Vienna House brand has built a highly-recognised name for travellers in many European countries,” said Dimitris Manikis, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts President for Europe, Middle East, Eurasia and Africa (EMEA).
InPost is expanding with P3 Logistic Parks in Poland
InPost and P3 have signed lease agreements for a total surface of over 43,000 sqm in P3 Piotrków Park. In addition, P3 has recently provided InPost with a dedicated city warehouse of nearly 8,300 sqm in Warsaw.
Iwona Sadowska, Interim Head of Leasing at P3 Logistic Parks in Poland, says: “Our goal is to provide tenants with opportunities for their further development and to support our long-term partners on the road to success.”
The new building created for InPost is located in the northern part of Warsaw, near the S8 expressway and only 12 km from the city centre. It will serve as In Post’s sorting plant.
MetLife to move into Warsaw Unit skyscraper
The company will occupy the 21st floor of Warsaw UNIT. Employees of MetLife Europe Services Limited will move into their new office in Warsaw UNIT this December. The company will have 1,500 sqm of state-of-the-art office space at its disposal. The lease agreement was signed with Ghelamco, the developer and owner of the skyscraper, for a period of 7 years. The tenant was supported in the transaction by the consulting firm CBRE.
“MetLife is another global brand that has chosen Warsaw UNIT for its headquarters,” says Jarosław Zagórski, Commercial and Business Development Director, Ghelamco Poland.
“After 25 years, MetLife is moving from its offices in Powiśle to modern headquarters in Wola, one of the capital’s fastest-growing districts,” said Piotr Sztrauch, EMEA Controller and Warsaw Center of Excellence Executive Lead.
“Warsaw’s office market saw strong activity among tenants in the first half of the year,” says Joanna Andryszczyk, Senior Consultant in CBRE’s office space department.
Rezydencja Iwicka ready for occupancy
Yareal is about to commission another residential development in Warsaw. The Rezydencja Iwicka investment, which consists of four urban villas set amongst greenery in the heart of the capital’s Lower Mokotów district, is set to become a new home for 88 families. Residents began collecting the keys to their homes at the beginning of the month.
The development received a Very Good rating in the BREEAM green building certification scheme – the highest level awarded to only a handful of residential investments across Poland.
“Residents and visitors will enter Rezydencja Iwicka via a shaded walkway with a striking arcade and a representative reception area,” says Yareal Vice-President Jacek Zengteler.