The Europe-wide distribution center of the C&A chain will remain in Arete Park Nové Mesto at least for the next six years

 At the end of the year, Arete Invest, a fast-growing Czech fund specialized in real estate investments, concluded a new lease agreement with the C&A chain for another six years. C&A has had its Europe-wide distribution center in the Slovak Arete Park Nové Mesto nad Váhom for nine years already. It had chosen this place due to its strategic location.

“The conclusion of this transaction and the extension of the lease agreement confirm the strategic location of Arete Park Nové Mesto nad Váhom. We are pleased that we can support the growth of a company as important as C&A. A long-term extension of the lease has strengthened our strategic partnership - we believe that it is going to contribute to the further development of both companies,” says Tomáš Novotný, a member of the investment committee of the Arete Invest fund responsible for asset management.

The Arete Invest fund bought the complex in Nové Mesto nad Váhom from Prologis last year. As concerns volume, this transaction was one of the biggest real estate transactions of the past year in the industrial sector in Slovakia. One hundred percent of the complex is rented to C&A, Raben Logistics and Vetropak Nemšová. Up until now, the average lease term was 4 years. However, with the extension of C&A’s lease agreement, it has increased to 5.3 years, which is a unique value for a purely logistic area. Also, the stability of the portfolio of the Arete Invest fund has further increased.

The demand for storage and production premises in Slovakia is growing steadily. Apart from the increase in rental prices, this is also manifested in the very low vacancy rate of the premises available for rent, which is currently only 2.4 %. Furthermore, the demand in the Nové Mesto nad Váhom microregion exceeds the supply by more than double. During the summer, Arete Invest had therefore already begun the process of restructuring its complex Arete Park Nové Mesto nad Váhom, and it is planning to extend it. During the first phase, another 19,000 m2 of storage space should be brought to the market. In the second phase, they are planning the construction of new premises with a floor area up to 30,000 m2.