The Ukrainian real estate investment fund Focus Estate Fund has acquired the Turawa Park shopping center in Opole (Poland) from the international investment management group abrdn for an undisclosed amount, the fund’s general partner Maksym Shkolnik has said.
“This is our fourth asset in Poland, and we plan to continue scaling our portfolio in the Polish market, where we have been present for more than five years,” he said.
BNP Real Estate, which operates the shopping center, brokered the deal. B2R Law, CSWP, Dentons, CMS and Gleeds advised on this transaction.
Turawa Park is a multi-format shopping center with a total area of over 35,000 square meters, which has more than 60 stores. It includes a gallery with an area of 18,000 square meters, a retail park of 8,000 square meters, and the area of DIY stores – 9,000 square meters. The parking area is designed for 1,320 cars.
Turawa Park’s anchor tenants are such well-known brands as Carrefour, Reserved, Sinsay, Media Expert, Action, Smyk. Other tenants are Rossmann, Big Star, C&A, Pepco, Levis, Sephora, Deichmann.
According to the press service of the fund, at the time of the acquisition, the total vacancy rate was 29%.
“We see good prospects in the value-added retail segment in which we operate. Custom retail parks and neighborhood malls have proven to be some of the most resilient classes during the pandemic. As for the deal itself, it was rather complicated, and I would like to thank the abrdn team for their professional and balanced approach,” Shkolnik said.
The fund’s portfolio includes three more shopping centers in Poland in the cities of Sandomierz, Zgorzelec and Bartoszyce.
At the end of 2021, Focus Estate Fund sold two of its retail properties in the Czech Republic to the DRFG investment group: Centro Ostrava Retail Park and Most Retail Park.
Focus Estate Fund is a real estate investment fund focusing on non-premium medium-sized retail properties in Central and Eastern Europe.
