Weekly CRE Market Commentary

BNP Paribas Real Estate Enters Slovenia as CEE Investment Momentum Builds Through Poland and Romania

BNP Paribas Real Estate has formed its first alliance in Slovenia, partnering with Fort Vega to extend its international advisory network into the market. The announcement lands in a week where CEE deal flow was dominated by Polish logistics, Romanian foreign capital, and a flurry of financing extensions that point to lenders rewarding proven income over speculative development.

Market Mood

Sentiment this week tracked toward cautious conviction: investors are "picking their battles," deploying capital selectively into resilient income and assets with active management upside rather than chasing volume. Savills' forecast of €156 billion in European investment through Q3 2026 — with CEE and the Nordics outpacing a lagging Western Europe at 34% year-on-year growth — gives that caution a clear regional counterpoint. Logistics retained its position as the most financeable asset class, while retail is entering a modernisation cycle rather than a construction one, and office sentiment is bifurcating sharply by city.

Where Capital is Moving

Poland's logistics sector produced the week's largest single transaction: a US investor acquired Panattoni Park Poznań A2, a 150,000 sqm complex fully leased to H&M, for €160 million, advised by Addleshaw Goddard — confirmation that institutional capital continues to chase fully let, brand-name-anchored Polish industrial stock. P3 Logistic Parks broke ground on the first phase of P3 Gliwice, a speculative 39,971 sqm building (expandable to nearly 100,000 sqm) targeting BREEAM Excellent, while reporting a broader rebound in Polish logistics demand — gross take-up up 47% year-on-year in Q1, net demand at its highest since 2022. LemonTree closed out its BOOSTER ZABRZE complex, selling the final phase to Korean-backed Vestas Investment Management Europe and taking the five-building, ~109,000 sqm scheme's total transaction value above €120 million.

Retail financing extensions were a recurring theme. Helaba and the ECE European Prime Shopping Centre Fund II prolonged €205 million in financing across two Polish shopping centres, Forum Koszalin and Felicity Lublin, by five years following refurbishment and new anchor leasing from Primark — a vote of confidence in modernised, well-let retail rather than new supply. That reading is reinforced by Colliers' "ExCEEding Borders Retail 2026" report, which found two-thirds of CEE's 33.3 million sqm of modern retail space (69% in the Czech Republic) is now over 15 years old, pointing the region toward a modernisation and tenant-mix cycle rather than fresh construction. BIG Poland's 18,000 sqm Bolesławiec retail park, fully pre-let to 14 brands ahead of its Q4 opening, shows smaller-format retail still finding tenant demand even as the broader stock ages.

Office capital showed a geographic split. Warsaw's market is being framed as structurally advantaged against French and German peers for weathering higher rates, with vacancy down to 8.5% (4.8% in central locations) by Q2 2026. UNIQA Real Estate opened a new closed-ended office fund targeting Core and Core Plus assets in Austria, Poland, and the Czech Republic, explicitly citing entry opportunities from yields that have widened by up to 250 basis points — a signal that institutional capital sees current office pricing as a buying window rather than a risk to avoid. DWS's acquisition of Peakside Capital Advisors, a €1.7 billion value-add and opportunistic manager active in Germany and CEE, further signals consolidation among platforms positioning for the next phase of the cycle.

On the energy and infrastructure side, the EBRD's backing of Romania's Dama Solar project — at 1.3 GW, set to be the EU's largest solar park — underlines continued infrastructure capital flowing into the region alongside traditional real estate.

CEE/SEE in Focus

Romania had the standout week for foreign capital. The country's real estate transactions sector ranks second nationally for FDI stock, at €22.1 billion by end-2025, with combined real estate and construction FDI nearly tripling over the past decade. NEPI Rockcastle hosted Danish retailer NORMAL's entry into Romania at two of its malls in Bucharest and Timișoara, while Liebrecht & wooD began construction on the next 89-home phase of its 2,400-home Liziera de Lac community outside Bucharest. The residential market itself is cooling at the margins — September prices were flat nationally and time-on-market rose across all seven major cities tracked, with Brașov posting a sharp 10% monthly correction — even as Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Sibiu, Iași, and Constanța still recorded gains.

Poland's cross-border capital story extended beyond logistics: Christie's International Real Estate entered the market through a new affiliate partnership, and AKIPIA, a Czech investment group, joined the ownership structure of Roma Tower, a €2 billion, 170-metre ultra-luxury residential tower in Warsaw delivered with Pininfarina interiors — another example of Czech capital's growing appetite for Polish trophy assets. Slovak and Czech living-sector platforms are also broadening: Lucron launched sales of 209 flats in Bratislava's Petržalka district even as the city's new apartment sales fell 10.6% year-on-year in Q2, and Fond Českého Bydliení opened a retail sub-fund giving individual investors access to its residential rental portfolio, which has grown fivefold since 2024 to CZK 2.7 billion.

At Expo Real 2026, panellists reinforced the region's improving narrative, citing Poland as the CEE benchmark market and pointing to the Baltics for emerging opportunity; W. P. Carey separately flagged rising European sale-leaseback demand, particularly in Germany, as financing conditions push corporates toward capital-release strategies.

Slovenia & Adriatic

BNP Paribas Real Estate has signed its first alliance in Slovenia, partnering with Fort Vega to extend the global advisory network's reach into the market for transactions and cross-border expertise across asset classes — a move that brings international platform coverage to Slovenia as CEE investment activity accelerates. Separately, Croatia's logistics parks, intermodal hubs, and improved connections to European transport corridors are increasingly cited as a competitive advantage for the Adriatic region, with a Zagreb forum this week addressing how the country will source raw materials for its coming investment wave. Infrastructure in the wider Adriatic corridor continues to firm up: Austria's €4.2 billion Semmering Base Tunnel, a 27km link eliminating a key bottleneck on the southern railway axis, will bring Vienna closer to the northern Adriatic once complete.

Outlook

Watch Polish logistics for further large-ticket trades following the Poznań and Zabrze deals — institutional appetite for fully let, brand-anchored industrial stock shows no sign of slowing. The office sector bears close monitoring on two fronts: whether UNIQA's and DWS's moves into opportunistic and Core Plus strategies mark the start of a broader wave of capital targeting repriced office assets, and whether Warsaw's vacancy advantage over Western Europe continues to widen. In Romania, the combination of cooling residential prices and still-strong FDI inflows into real estate and construction is worth tracking for signs of a two-speed market forming between core investment assets and the broader housing sector.

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<sup>EuropaProperty
- EuropaProperty — EBRD backs largest solar plant in EU — https://europaproperty.com/ebrd-backs-largest-solar-plant-in-eu/
- EuropaProperty — UNIQA Real Estate launches office fund for third-party investors — https://europaproperty.com/uniqa-real-estate-launches-office-fund-for-third-party-investors/
- EuropaProperty — BIG Poland expands its development pipeline with fully leased BIG Bolesławiec — https://europaproperty.com/big-poland-expands-its-development-pipeline-with-fully-leased-big-boleslawiec/
- EuropaProperty — NEPI Rockcastle Breaks Ground on Karolinka Shopping Centre extension — https://europaproperty.com/nepi-rockcastle-breaks-ground-on-karolinka-shopping-centre-extension/
- EuropaProperty — Czech Retail Faces Major Modernization Wave — https://europaproperty.com/czech-retail-faces-major-modernization-wave/
- EuropaProperty — Helaba and ECE Continue Successful Collaboration on the Polish Retail Market — https://europaproperty.com/helaba-and-ece-continuing-successful-collaboration-in-the-polish-retail-market/
- EuropaProperty — Panattoni sells massive logistics centre covering 150,000 sqm in Poznań — https://europaproperty.com/panattoni-sells-massive-logistics-centre-covering-150000-sqm-in-poznan/
- EuropaProperty — Ghelamco agrees €54.4 million sale of Chopin Tower project in Warsaw — https://europaproperty.com/ghelamco-agrees-e54-4-million-sale-of-chopin-tower-project-in-warsaw/
- EuropaProperty — P3 starts construction of the first phase of P3 Gliwice — https://europaproperty.com/p3-starts-construction-of-the-first-phase-of-p3-gliwice/
- EuropaProperty — Danish Retailer NORMAL Expands into Romania with Two Stores at NEPI Rockcastle Malls — https://europaproperty.com/danish-retailer-normal-expands-into-romania-with-two-stores-at-nepi-rockcastle-malls/
- EuropaProperty — BNP Paribas Real Estate signs new alliance in Slovenia with Fort Vega Group — https://europaproperty.com/bnp-paribas-real-estate-signs-new-alliance-in-slovenia-with-fort-vega-group/
- EuropaProperty — Hala Targowa in Gdańsk Named Building of the Year — https://europaproperty.com/hala-targowa-in-gdansk-named-building-of-the-year/
- EuropaProperty — MLP Business Park Vienna signs two new tenants — https://europaproperty.com/mlp-business-park-vienna-signs-two-new-tenants/
- EuropaProperty — Retail Parks in Poland: Capital Origins, Yields and Investment Strategies — https://europaproperty.com/retail-parks-in-poland-capital-origins-yields-and-investment-strategies/
- EuropaProperty — Liebrecht & wooD starts construction on 89 new homes at Liziera de Lac — https://europaproperty.com/liziera-de-lac-starts-construction-on-89-new-homes/
- EuropaProperty — DL Invest Group secures up to €95 million revolving credit facility from UniCredit — https://europaproperty.com/dl-invest-group-secures-up-to-e95-million-revolving-credit-facility-from-unicredit/
- EuropaProperty — LemonTree sells Phase 2 of BOOSTER ZABRZE to Vestas Investment Management Europe — https://europaproperty.com/lemontree-sells-phase-2-of-booster-zabrze-to-vestas-investment-management-europe/</sup>

<sup>Europe-RE
- Europe-RE — European real estate investment set to hit €156bn as CEE and Nordics outpace a lagging Western Europe — https://europe-re.com/european-real-estate-investment-set-to-hit-156bn-as-cee-and-nordics-outpace-a-lagging-western-europe/74702
- Europe-RE — Czech investor AKIPIA joins BBI Development's €2bn Roma Tower in Warsaw — https://europe-re.com/czech-investor-akipia-joins-bbi-development-s-2bn-roma-tower-in-warsaw/74705</sup>

<sup>Property Forum
- Property Forum — DWS acquires Peakside Capital Advisors — https://www.property-forum.eu/news/dws-acquires-peakside-capital-advisors/22186
- Property Forum — P3 sees renewed momentum in Poland's logistics market — https://www.property-forum.eu/news/p3-sees-renewed-momentum-in-polands-logistics-market/22195
- Property Forum — Warsaw office market to outperform European peers — https://www.property-forum.eu/news/warsaw-office-market-to-outperform-european-peers/22191
- Property Forum — DL Invest Group secures €95 million facility from UniCredit — https://www.property-forum.eu/news/dl-invest-group-secures-eur95-million-facility-from-unicredit/22190
- Property Forum — Christie's International Real Estate expands into Poland — https://www.property-forum.eu/news/christies-international-real-estate-expands-into-poland/22187
- Property Forum — REICO fund expands into Austria with five Hornbach stores — https://www.property-forum.eu/news/reico-fund-expands-into-austria-with-five-hornbach-stores/22185
- Property Forum — AKIPIA joins BBI Development residential tower in Warsaw — https://www.property-forum.eu/news/akipia-joins-bbi-development-residential-tower-in-warsaw/22184
- Property Forum — Capital is back, but investors are picking their battles — https://www.property-forum.eu/news/capital-is-back-but-investors-are-picking-their-battles/22183
- Property Forum — Helaba and ECE extend €205 million retail financing in Poland — https://www.property-forum.eu/news/helaba-and-ece-extend-eur205-million-retail-financing-in-poland/22182
- Property Forum — Colliers report flags Czech retail ageing across the board — https://www.property-forum.eu/news/colliers-report-flags-czech-retail-ageing-across-the-board/22175
- Property Forum — Erste Asset Management absorbs Czech fund manager REICO — https://www.property-forum.eu/news/erste-asset-management-absorbs-czech-fund-manager-reico/22178
- Property Forum — Romania Sotheby's lists historic Romanian estates for sale — https://www.property-forum.eu/news/romania-sothebys-lists-historic-romanian-estates-for-sale/22171
- Property Forum — Follow the occupier, follow the capital — https://www.property-forum.eu/news/follow-the-occupier-follow-the-capital/22221
- Property Forum — W. P. Carey sees growing sale-leaseback demand in Europe — https://www.property-forum.eu/news/w-p-carey-sees-growing-sale-leaseback-demand-in-europe/22219
- Property Forum — Addleshaw Goddard advises on €160 million Poznań logistics deal — https://www.property-forum.eu/news/addleshaw-goddard-advises-on-eur160-million-poznan-logistics-deal/22217
- Property Forum — Romania real estate ranks second for foreign direct investment — https://www.property-forum.eu/news/romania-real-estate-ranks-second-for-foreign-direct-investment/22215
- Property Forum — CEE's investment story is getting harder to ignore — https://www.property-forum.eu/news/cees-investment-story-is-getting-harder-to-ignore/22213
- Property Forum — Romanian apartment market shows signs of cooling — https://www.property-forum.eu/news/romanian-apartment-market-shows-signs-of-cooling/22210
- Property Forum — Fond Českého Bydlení launches retail fund — https://www.property-forum.eu/news/fond-ceskeho-bydleni-launches-retail-fund/22209
- Property Forum — Lucron launches sales of 209 flats in Bratislava's Petržalka — https://www.property-forum.eu/news/lucron-launches-sales-of-209-flats-in-bratislavas-petrzalka/22208
- Property Forum — Bratislava residential market sees decline in demand — https://www.property-forum.eu/news/bratislava-residential-market-sees-decline-in-demand/22201
- Property Forum — NORMAL opens first Romania stores at NEPI Rockcastle malls — https://www.property-forum.eu/news/normal-opens-first-romania-stores-at-nepi-rockcastle-malls/22204</sup>

<sup>Finance.si
- Finance.si — Moving Adria: kako je Hrvaška privabila nove tovore — https://www.finance.si/logistika-%26-prevozi/moving-adria-kako-je-hrvaska-privabila-nove-tovore/a/9051779 — Author: Barbara Pavlin
- Finance.si — Mineral Forum, Zagreb: kako bo Hrvaška zagotovila surovine za investicijski val — https://www.finance.si/top-gradbenistvo/mineral-forum-zagreb-kako-bo-hrvaska-zagotovila-surovine-za-investicijski-val/a/9051774 — Author: Vasilij Krivec
- Finance.si — Z gradbišča predora Semmering: kako nam bo 4,2-milijardna naložba približala Dunaj in kako bo spremenila prometno sliko regije — https://www.finance.si/logistika-%26-prevozi/z-gradbisca-predora-semmering-kako-nam-bo-42-milijardna-nalozba-priblizala-dunaj-in-kako-bo-spremenila-prometno-sliko-regije/a/9051895 — Author: Barbara Pavlin
- Finance.si — Prihaja nova proga Hamburg - Hannover za devet milijard evrov. Vendar šele leta 2050. — https://www.finance.si/logistika-%26-prevozi/prihaja-nova-proga-hamburg-hannover-za-devet-milijard-evrov-vendar-sele-leta-2050/a/9051946 — Author: Nataša Koražija</sup>

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