When Henley bought Galeria Pestka in 2021, the shopping centre needed more than a fresh coat of paint; it needed a reason for shoppers to keep coming back. Four years later, that bet has paid off in full: Henley has completed the sale of the 41,658 m² Poznań asset to OPAL CENTRES, a subsidiary of DromeStar Group, closing out a repositioning that took occupancy above 95 per cent and pushed annual footfall from 4.8 million to 5.1 million, surpassing pre-COVID 2019 levels.
The turnaround was built on substance rather than cosmetics. Henley secured 61 new lettings and renewals during its ownership, bringing in Action, Jysk and Woolworth, and delivered a full refurbishment of the food court, now anchored by five operators including KFC, OLIMP and Sphinx. The two-level centre's 60 units are anchored by Carrefour, Bricomarché and MediaMarkt, alongside CCC, Pepco, Dealz, Action, Rossmann and Sinsay, a tenant roster built for resilience rather than novelty, in a city, Poland's fifth-largest, that functions as a genuine financial and industrial hub rather than a satellite market.
There is a wider signal here worth flagging for investors scanning the CEE retail landscape. This is a regional, non-Warsaw shopping centre trading hands with a full occupancy story and footfall growth intact, at a time when prime retail assets in Poland's capital remain scarce and expensive. Poznań's transaction demonstrates that well-managed secondary-city retail, anchored by daily-needs tenants like grocery and DIY rather than fashion-led footfall, can deliver exit liquidity even in a market where headline retail investment volumes have stayed subdued, a pattern that should encourage capital currently sitting on the sidelines waiting for Warsaw-only opportunities to widen its search.
"We are pleased to complete the sale of Galeria Pestka, a well-located retail centre with a great tenant line-up. During our ownership, the tenant mix and food offer were brought up to date, while maintaining occupancy and growing footfall. With the business plan delivered in full, this was the right moment to sell and realise the returns for our investors," said Tom Duff, Investment Director, Henley.
The deal was supported by Avison Young on the commercial side and GT Law on legal matters, acting for Henley Investment Management. Henley, which has deployed around $3bn in capital across more than 100 investments, continues to focus on large-scale urban regeneration and on living, office, industrial and logistics, retail and alternative sector investments across Europe and the US.
People mentioned:
- Tom Duff – Investment Director, Henley
Companies mentioned:
- Henley – International private equity real estate investment and fund management firm, seller
- OPAL CENTRES – Subsidiary of DromeStar Group, buyer
- DromeStar Group – Real estate investor, parent of OPAL CENTRES
- Avison Young – Commercial adviser to Henley
- GT Law – Legal adviser to Henley
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