LOKALE IMMOBILIA | NEWS
Investment Market BRIEFS CEE REMAINS A HIGH-PRIORITY TARGET FOR GLOBAL CAPITAL
The total amount of new capital earmarked for global commercial real estate investment in 2017 stands at approximately $435 billion, which represents a slight decrease upon the volume recorded last year but is still the second-highest figure seen since 2009, according to a recent report by Cushman & Wakefield. While the UK, Germany and France are expected to remain some the most targeted investment markets in Europe this year, the CEE region will also continue to be a high-priority target for global capital, the study said.
Developer Skanska Commercial Development Europe has sold its Maraton office building in downtown Poznań to a real estate fund managed by Union Investment for €62 million. The building, which was the second office project of Skanska in the city (after Malta House), was completed in December last year and comprises 26,000 sqm of GLA. “The activity of experienced international players in Poznań shows the growing maturity and liquidity of Poland’s regional markets. After the successful acquisition of Skanska’s Dominikański office complex in Wrocław in 2015, Union Investment has again selected one of our top-class office products,” said Adrian Karczewicz, head of divestments CEE at Skanska Commercial Development Europe. Following the acquisition of Maraton, Union Investment currently holds a total of 16 office, retail and hotel assets in Poland that have a combined value of approximately €1.6 billion.
“CEE continues to offer investors good relative value compared to other developed markets across Europe, with average property returns from prime assets in the region set to outperform the wider European average” – Nigel Almond, the head of EMEA Capital Markets Research at Cushman & Wakefield
50
APRIL 2017 W B J
€150 million
the amount of new capital that Johannesburg Stock Exchangelisted investor Echo Polska Properties has recently raised to finance acquisitions in the Polish market
Warsaw Stock Exchange-listed developer Echo Investment has signed a preliminary conditional agreement for the sale of the under-construction West Link office project in Wrocław to Griffin Premium RE, a new platform created by commercial property investor Griffin Real Estate. The transaction is expected to be finalized by the end of next year. Additionally, Echo Investment and Griffin Premium RE have signed an agreement by which Griffin will indirectly invest 25 percent of the capital needed to complete the construction of two of Echo’s commercial projects in Warsaw – Beethovena (phase I and II) and Browary Warszawskie (phase J). The investor will be indirectly entitled to a 25 percent stake in the profits generated by the sale of those projects and will also obtain the right of first offer to acquire them.
ASIAN INVESTORS TO REMAIN ACTIVE IN CEE IN 2017
Capital coming from Asia, which last year accounted for 16 percent of the total real estate investment volume in Central and Eastern Europe, will continue to play a major role in the investment market in the region in 2017, with this year’s numbers likely to match or even exceed the 2016 figure, according to a recent report by Colliers International. This is due to the large number of potential sources that capital can hail from in the vast, deep and liquid Asian market, and the fact that Asian investors see CEE as a risky, higher return diversification opportunity compared to Western Europe, the study said.
PRESS MATERIAL
UNION INVESTMENT acquires Maraton in Poznań for €62 mln
ECHO SELLING WEST LINK IN WROCŁAW TO GRIFFIN