Coffee with Craig Show – daily CRE news covering the CEE region – Thursday, April 7 with Winston Norman, Editor and Chief of EuropaProperty.com – Celebrating over 300 shows!!!
RETAIL DEVELOPERS MAINTAIN THEIR FOCUS ON ROMANIA’S REGIONAL CITIES
Romania’s modern retail stock reached 4.02 million sqm at the end of the first quarter of 2022 and the year ahead bodes well for both retail formats, retail parks & shopping centres, says CBRE in Romania.
The attributed ratios are: 37 percent of the total modern stock is for retail parks while the remaining 63 percent is attributed to shopping centres, but this ratio will change by end of the year as there are a significant number of retail parks in the pipeline.
The extension of Colosseum shopping centre in Bucharest developed by Nova Imobilare and Băilești Retail Park in Băilești, Dolj County gathering 3,000 sqm built by the local developer Legabris Prest.
By the end of the year, around 147,000 sqm is expected to be added to the country’s modern stock, out of which 22 percent will be in Bucharest while the remainder 78 percent will be delivered throughout the main regional cities.
“It’s a remarkable year for retail considering the important names entering the Romanian retail market, and we can attest that retailers consider Romania and CEE as the best destinations for their business development,” explains Carmen Ravon at CBRE.
According to CBRE, Romania continues to attract international retailers, Footlocker launched a store in AFI Cotroceni, while Primark and CyberJump will open in Bucharest later this year. An attractive list of other brands that are about to launch their stores contains names like PokeHouse, Submarine Burger, Buddha Original, TEDI, FLO, Bath&Body works, Half Price (part of CCC group), and JD Sports.
WOOD & COMPANY ACQUIRES ASTRUM BUSINESS PARK IN WARSAW
WOOD & Company will acquire the Astrum Business Park office building in Warsaw from Prochem S.A. and LFI investment fund, marking the Fund’s first real estate acquisition in Poland. The building has a total leasable area of over 23,000 sqm and is fully leased.
The construction was completed in two phases, in 2016 and 2018. Key tenants are Lionbridge, Prochem, Xerox, Robert Bosch and GEA Process Engineering. The building is BREEAM certified.
“Poland is the largest market in the CEE region and the sixth-largest in the EU. We have been analysing the Warsaw real estate market intensively for more than two years, and we see great potential in being a part of this dynamically developing and most liquid country in Central and Eastern Europe,“ says Vladimír Jaroš, CEO of WOOD & Company.
“I am sure this fully-let, modern, ecological and well-located office building will meet its high expectations,” says Krzysztof Marczak, CEO of Irydion, and the Vice President, CFO of Prochem.
Colliers, Duch / Lisicki & Partners and Deloitte assisted on the sell-side. The purchaser was represented by Dentons, Cushman & Wakefield, TPA and Sentient.
PANATTONI COMPLETES FACTORY FOR DANFOSS
Panattoni has completed a production and business centre for Danfoss Poland, a Danish producer of energy-efficient components and technologies for refrigeration, air conditioning and heating units. The 13,000 sqm complex was completed a year after the launch of construction work. On-site, 350 factory workers will run 45 production lines. The development will allow Danfoss to serve clients from across the world and will also support it in its goal of reaching zero emissions by 2030.
“We faced a wide range of challenges during the development, such as the short construction time, having to develop the first stage during the winter, and constructing the plant next to an already existing factory without disrupting its operations,” says Marek Foryński, BTS Managing Director at Panattoni.
Adam Jędrzejczak, President of Danfoss Poland, said. “Every stage of the construction was successfully completed due to the highly effective collaboration of Danfoss, Panattoni and the general contractor Dekpol.
WHITE STAR AND BAIN TO DELIVER WAREHOUSES IN ŁÓDŹ
White Star Logistics, a joint venture between White Star Real Estate and Bain Capital Credit, will build a 30,000 sqm logistics and manufacturing park in Łodź. The complex will consist of two buildings, the first of which will be commissioned in the first half of 2023.
The new White Star Logistics investment is the result of an agreement with Quantum A1, and the transaction was advised by law firms: Argon Legal and Sadkowski and Partners.
“The space in our latest investment in Łódź will be tailored to the needs of both manufacturing and logistics tenants and will be developed with green solutions, which will be confirmed by a BREEAM certificate at a very good level,” says Bartosz Szewczyk, Managing Partner at White Star Real Estate.
“Central Poland still has huge potential in the warehouse market, mainly due to its excellent location, which attracts tenants,” says Urszula Rassmusen, Head of Industrial Leasing at White Star Real Estate, concludes.
