Coffee with Craig Show – daily CRE news covering the CEE region, Friday, January 20, with Winston Norman, Editor and Chief of EuropaProperty.com.
Bluehouse Capital sells Olympia Tower to Yellow Tree
Bluehouse Capital has sold the Olympia Tower office building in Bucharest to Yellow Tree. The class A office building comprises 10,000 sqm of GLA and is currently 93 percent occupied. Knight Frank Romania represented Bluehouse in this transaction and also acted as the exclusive leasing agent of Olympia Tower.
Representatives of Bluehouse Capital said that “Despite challenging market conditions Olympia Tower has always performed well, due to its high-quality standards and asset management”.
The acquisition confirmed yet again Yellow Tree’s confidence in the Romanian real estate market: “In 2023, we continue to be on the lookout for mainly office and logistics/industrial sectors”, added Cristian Ezri, Chief Investment Officer, Yellow Tree.
“The transaction, which closed this past December, adds up the level of investment volumes to over €1.2 billion, making it a record year for the Romanian market”, concluded Horatiu Florescu, Chairman & CEO Knight Frank Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia.
Retail deliveries to hit 6-year high in Romania
Around 100,000 sqm of new retail space was delivered last year in Romania, of which 80 percent were integrated into retail parks, while new projects with a leasable area of around 230,000 sqm are expected in 2023, which would be a 6-year high, according to Cushman & Wakefield Echinox.
“The 2022 new supply and the plans for the next three years prove once again that traditional retail will continue to play a key role in the overall real estate landscape. This is primarily explained by the fact that malls, retail parks and commercial galleries are no longer just shopping destinations,” said Dana Radoveneanu, Head of Retail Agency at Cushman & Wakefield Echinox.
Last year, the biggest completed project was the extension of the Colosseum Mall in Bucharest spanning 16,500 sqm. By 2025, the single largest delivery will be Oasis Consulting’s Prima Shopping Center in Sibiu which will have a leasable area of 70,000 sqm.
Magda Twarowska joins Logicenters Poland
Logicenters in Poland, the logistics arm of NREP, has welcomed a new Head of Commercial Activities. Magda Twarowska will be responsible for managing tenant relations and leasing activities, covering the standing assets and projects held by NREP’s portfolio company, BIK S.A.
The company has a portfolio of four standing assets with two potential extensions plus a land plot. The potential footprint is more than 130,000 sqm.
“We have an exceptional year ahead of us, in which we will strengthen our position in the Polish market and implement the group’s ambitious goals, primarily related to the bold ESG strategy,” said Soren Rodian Olsen, Managing Director of Logicenters in Poland.
Stefan de Goeij rejoins CTP as ESG and Energy Lead
Stefan de Goeij has rejoined CTP as ESG and Energy Lead, after a two-year break, reporting directly to the company’s founder and CEO Remon Vos.
He will help drive CTP’s ambitious sustainability agenda to ramp up its renewable energy output, establish clear standards for water, waste and materials management and recycling in new projects and standing CTParks, as well as align the company with the Science-Based Target Initiative for establishing a road map to the net carbon neutral goal for the company’s entire operations.
Remon Vos, CEO of CTP, said: “I’m very happy we’ve been able to attract Stefan de Goeij back to CTP at a crucial point in the acceleration of the development of our renewable energy business.”
FutureMeds in the Infinity office building
FutureMeds, a company specialising in clinical trials of new drugs and therapies, has joined the group of tenants of the Infinity office building. The operator of a network of modern outpatient clinics will occupy 1,100 sqm of space in the building currently under construction in Wrocław.
The Infinity building, which is being developed by Avestus Real Estate in cooperation with business partner Alchemy Properties, will be ready to receive tenants in Q2 2023.
“Acquiring such an important business partner as a medical clinic was one of the key elements of Infinity’s retail and service space concept from the outset,” said Mariusz Frąckiewicz, Director of Poland, Avestus Real Estate.