Coffee with Craig Show – daily CRE news covering the CEE region, Monday, April 3, with Winston Norman, Editor and Chief of EuropaProperty.com.
Newport Logistics Fund II looks to raise €100 million
Newport Logistics Fund II, a fund investing in the development of warehouses, is looking to raise €100 million for further investments in Western Europe. The fund will focus its activities on investments in Western Europe where projects in the UK, Germany, Belgium, Spain and Sweden are currently being analysed.
“Our strategy assumes financing the construction of modern warehouses and logistics facilities in Europe based on the diversification of assets and their location to provide the best returns for our investors,” said Szymon Ostrowski, Managing Director of the Fund.
Newport Logistics Fund’s key investment criterion is a high standard of sustainable construction which ensures that the facilities meet the ESG goals of both customers and users. Therefore, each project will undergo BREEAM certification.
Mitiska buys Europa Centralna in Poland
Mitiska REIM announced on behalf of the MEREP 3 fund the acquisition of Europa Centralna, a retail centre covering a gross leasable area (GLA) of 67,000 sqm located in Gliwice, Poland.
In line with its value-add investment strategy, Mitiska REIM plans to reposition Europa Centralna as a food-anchored convenience real estate asset and improve its ESG credentials so that it can achieve a “Very Good” score on the BREEAM scale.
The retail park and galleria are currently anchored by DIY stores Castorama and Jula, with other tenants including JYSK, Action, Media Expert and Sports Direct, and a standalone drive-through McDonald’s restaurant.
Mateusz Szymczak, Mitiska REIM’s Investment Manager for Poland, comments: “Two million people are living within a 30-minute drive of Europa Centralna, with the Upper Silesia region one of Poland’s largest concentrations of industrial space and one of the country’s main centres for business services.”
Sylvie Geuten-Carpentier, Managing Partner of Mitiska REIM, adds: “The acquisition of Europa Centralna is a major addition to our portfolio in Poland, where Mitiska REIM has been accelerating its expansion over the last 4 years.”
Trei sells portfolio in Czech and Slovakia to Plan B investments
Trei Real Estate sold its entire portfolio of 70 properties in the Czech Republic and Slovakia to Plan B Investments. The portfolio includes 60 supermarkets and commercial properties in the Czech Republic and 10 retail parks of the Vendo brand in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
The portfolio of retail real estate in the Czech Republic and Slovakia has a total lettable area of approximately 122,000 sqm. Supermarkets are scattered all over the Czech Republic and most of them are rented by Penny and Billa food chains.
Trei is pulling out of the Czech and Slovak markets, with future development activities to focus on the core markets of Germany, the United States and Poland. Pepijn Morshuis, the CEO of Trei Real Estate, commented: “Having already sold our retail property portfolio in Portugal to LCN Capital Partners earlier this year, the sale of our portfolio in the Czech Republic and Slovakia marks the next step in our strategic portfolio optimisation.”
Zdenek Soustal, co-owner of the Plan B Investments group, added: “We managed to acquire a portfolio from an international developer at a time when financing is scarce and becoming more expensive. This is truly an exceptional deal.“
Tirana East Gate welcomes H&M
The shopping centre is now home to H&M’s first store in Albania. The news follows the footsteps of East Gate Mall in Skopje, that first welcomed the renowned brand to North Macedonia earlier last August. “This solid partnership between H&M and Balfin Group’s shopping malls is a testimonial of our efforts to innovate fashion retail in the region and invite foreign investments”, said the Balfin Group.
