Coffee with Craig Show – daily CRE news covering the CEE region, Thursday, May 11, with Winston Norman, Editor and Chief of EuropaProperty.com.
BNY Mellon leases the second phase of Centrum Południe
BNY Mellon, an international company from the banking and finance sector, has leased all office space in the second phase of Skanska’s Centrum Południe complex located in Wrocław. The tenant’s employees will occupy 20,300 sqm of comfortable office space, equipped with technologies designed to save water and energy. The opening of the new office is scheduled for April 2024. This is the largest lease transaction in Wrocław since 2020.
“It is very important, especially now, when in the current preferred work model, the offices change their role and have to offer employees exceptional user experience including a variety of amenities,” says Marek Stasieńko, Leasing Director at Skanska commercial development business unit in CEE.
“BNY Mellon in Poland is growing very dynamically,” said Ewa Carr-de Avelon, BNY Mellon Poland Country Executive.
Forty Management agrees to open Crest Collection brand in Bucharest
Forty Management has concluded an agreement for a new hotel development to be operated by The Ascott Limited. Based on this partnership, Forty Management brings this brand to Romania for the first time and it will be operated to the standards of luxury brand The Crest Collection. The construction is expected to begin this fall, with an estimated opening in the first quarter of 2026.
According to the agreement, Ascott will operate The Crest Collection brand for an initial period of 25 years. The value of the investment in the new project is estimated at €22 million. The partnership between Ascott and Forty Management was signed on Friday in Paris, with Kevin Goh, CEO of The Ascott Limited, and Marcel Lindt, The Ascott Limited’s Development Director for UK and CEE attending the signing.
“We have chosen to capitalize on the potential of the luxury hotel market in Bucharest and we are delighted to be setting up this new project together with Forty Management, one of the most innovative companies in Romania in terms of sustainable, mixed-use real estate developments”, declared Marcel Lindt, Development Director UK and CEE, The Ascott Limited.
Romanian investors seal deals worth over €1.1 billion in the last 5 years
Romanian investors have made real estate acquisitions worth €1.1 billion in the last 5 years. They have been the most active buyers of income-producing real estate assets in Romania, according to data from Cushman & Wakefield Echinox.
The local investors are followed by those from South Africa (with acquisitions worth €600 million, corresponding to 15 percent of the total volume) and Austria (14 percent share), two countries from which Romania has been constantly attracting real estate capital in the past 15 years. The following two positions in the ranking are filled by investors from Israel (9 percent) and Hungary (8 percent).
The most active Romanian investor was the Dedeman group (Pavăl Holdings) which has speedily climbed to the 2nd position in the ranking of office owners in Romania through acquisitions worth €850 million.
Cristi Moga, Head of Capital Markets, Cushman & Wakefield Echinox, commented: “As far as the profile of local investors is concerned, they have a better understanding of consumer and space occupancy trends, as well as being more confident about the positive evolution of the economy in the medium and long term. Moreover, they also have a good grasp of the cyclical nature of the real estate market in Romania.”
