IMMOEAST Immobilien Anlagen AG, the leading international real estate investor in CEE and SEE, has launched an extensive investment programme in the successor states in former Yugoslavia. After concluding the acquisition of two shopping centres in Slovenia just a few days ago, the first investment in the biggest of Yugoslavia's successor states, Serbia, can now be finalised.
In the scope of a joint venture with an international real estate developer specialised in the residential business, IMMOEAST will carry out the "Francuska" residential project in the capital city of Belgrade. IMMOEAST has an 80 percent stake in the joint venture.
Altogether it comprises 120 residential units and 148 underground garage parking places. Construction will begin in the first quarter of 2007; building time will amount to one and a half years.
The property is in a central location of the city on the corner of Franzuska/Dunavska in the north of Belgrade's Old Town in the district of Dorcol, just 500 metres of Republic Square and in direct proximity to the Nevski Church. Trams and buses provide public transportation connections. That other nearby residential projects have practically all been sold or let in full also demonstrates the degree of the location's attractiveness. Overall, the residential real estate market has become very attractive in Serbia, particularly as a result of the considerable immigration of ethnic Serbs from other parts of former Yugoslavia. The nationwide recovery of the market is most obvious in Belgrade, where an appreciable increase in price and in the expansion of development activity can be observed.
For IMMOEAST CEO Karl Petrikovics the region of former Yugoslavia is an important market of the future. "Political conditions have stabilised, economists anticipate high growth rates and a lot of money is flowing back into the countries of origin from people working in Central and Western Europe. Now is the precisely right time to become active in this vigorously growing market."
Petrikovics has announced that IMMOEAST will be involved in the region on a broad front. In addition to the residential and retail business, big office projects in the capital cities also provide good opportunities. "We are going to realise several larger investments here both directly as well as through our joint ventures."
With "Francuska", IMMOEAST is continuing the residential building campaign in CEE: six projects are currently scheduled with a total of 3000 flats in Romania, Slovakia, Estonia, Poland, Bulgaria and Serbia. For the current fiscal year a total volume of more than 5 billion Euro in investments is planned, 2.6 billion Euro of which was already realised in the first quarter.
Source: IMMOEAST
