Realcast: Staving off summer lull, setting store by logistics, evergreen offices, awaiting ECB

In the spotlight this week:

There is still plenty of pre-summer-break activity and in the logistics sector, while Amazon, which has become one of the top 10 UK employers, announced it will create over 4,000  new permanent jobs in the, in Poland Panattoni unveiled plans to develop a large logistics facility in Lower Silesia and Garbe’s latest core-plus logistics fund has raised €400 million at first close.

Office investment markets are buoyant too. In Brussels, La Francaise and Investcorp have made significant acquisitions, while in Italy, KPMG has leased space in Milans’ Puerto Nuova district which is shaping up to be the city’s new CBD. In the City of London, Axa IM Alts acquired its next development project, at 55 Fenchurch Street, where it is planning a 60,000 sq m office development. And in Ireland, REinvest bought an office building from Henderson Park for €65 million.

Meanwhile, illustrating the increasing realisation that office to residential conversion is the solution for many older office buildings, Catella Investment Management Benelux paid €65 million for such a project near Amsterdam.

The strength of the residential sector was also confirmed in Italy where JLL announced a tie-up with residential agent Abitare Co, which it said was in response to international investors’ growing demand for integrated residential real estate services.

The widening of the real estate sector to encompass infrastructure was illustrated by Kajima Europe and Griffin Capital Parnters’ involvement in a 35MW solar farm in Poland, the development of which the partners have just financed with two leading Polish banks.

Research from CBRE has revealed that, despite increasing headwinds, the first half of 2022 was a record for real estate investment with €152 billion invested in the sector. However, most of the action was in the first quarter and there are indications that rising interest rates could dent prices, especially as the ECB is expected to increase interest rates for the first time since 2011 in the coming week.

Click on the video to see the full discussion or listen to the podcast below.