Nepi and the northern Lazio region is an under-the-radar cultural and historic hub – and councillors are working with the local community to welcome more visitors Standing on the top of the huge fortress it’s easy to see why Nepi was a prized possession for Roman emperors Defended on two sides by river channels and with a commanding position over rich agricultural land and abundant water springs has been a witness and a contributor to history for over two millennia Much of that history has been marked by intrigue Nepi was ruled by the 15th-century Spanish cardinal Rodrigo Borgia who gave it to his daughter Lucrezia after he became Pope Alexander VI Lucrezia stayed at the fortress (today known as the Borgia Castle) following the murder of her second husband in 1500 I’m sitting outside the Bar Centrale in the town’s elegant Piazza del Comune built on the orders of the Farnese family after they took up residence here in the mid-1500s who has just been elected for a second term as Nepi’s councillor responsible for culture and tourism While I sip an espresso and tuck into a cream-filled pastry Paolo tells me about his plans to develop tourism here and across the Tuscia region “It’s important to get the understanding and support of the community,” he says “so that visitors feel welcome but residents don’t feel threatened.” The renaissance town hall in Nepi’s Piazza del Comune. Photograph: AlamyI’m staying in a palatial 18th-century apartment, conveniently located above the Bar Centrale. Owners Alessia and Francesco already run the Loft Delle Scalette on the other side of the piazza and they are planning to offer this three-bedroomed space for tourist accommodation early next year After a second cream pastry, Paolo whisks me off to the neighbouring town of Castel Sant’Elia. We make the short journey by car, but we could easily have walked the two miles. Across Tuscia there are paths, trails and ancient Roman roads ideal for walking With plenty of sunshine and temperatures reaching a comfortable 20C early autumn is the perfect time to explore the region’s impressive landscape and to spot wildlife such as porcupines Santa Maria Assunta cathedral in Nepi Photograph: Stefano Valeri/AlamyNepi itself is edged on two sides by a deep gorge formed by river channels running through the volcanic rock of the Cimini and Sabatini Hills the expansive and undulating countryside is carpeted with fields and woods and criss-crossed with streams and waterfalls One of the trails takes you through the Suppentonia valley to Castel Sant’Elia’s 11th-century basilica She points out a fresco filled with scenes from the Apocalypse of Saint John The saint is associated with the winter solstice and every year at dawn on 21 or 22 December sunlight enters each of the high windows on the left of the basilica featured trips and local tips for your next break as well as the latest deals from Guardian Holidays the so-called “dying town” perched precariously on top of an eroding hill It’s time for lunch, so Paolo takes me to La Corte a smart but relaxed restaurant directly opposite the castle Chef Gabriele Zampaletta is on hand to advise and prepare a range of Tuscian dishes using seasonal produce from the local area If the typically rustic tagliere board of meats and cheeses (including pecorino romano made from sheep’s milk) doesn’t appeal then try the panzanella – bread pieces soaked in sulphate water (from Nepi olive oil and slices of Nepi’s homegrown variety of flat unpretentious and moreish – much like this undiscovered part of Italy The trip was provided by the Comune di Nepi. The Loft Delle Scalette apartment and annexe costs around €90 (£75) a night Welcome to IPE Real Assets. This site uses cookies. Read our policy By December (Online) 2024 NEPI Rockcastle has agreed to buy Silesia City Center The acquisition includes the mall itself and two companies which provide its utilities and communication services NEPI Rockcastle will acquire Silesia City Center and the Elco Companies for a total of €406.5 mln (€405 mln for the mall and €1.5 mln for the utility companies) The purchase is funded by cash reserves from a recent October 2024 equity raise The deal involves purchasing all shares from the current owners: Allianz Finance VII Luxembourg and Cura Beteiligungsgesellschaft International remarked: ‘We are grateful for the confidence that NEPI Rockcastle’s investors have placed in our company during the recent equity raise as we continue to deliver on our strategy with the acquisition of Silesia City Center This high-quality shopping centre has a commanding market position in Katowice one of Poland’s largest and wealthiest cities and we look forward bringing our asset management expertise to bear in the execution of long-term value growth initiatives in this latest investment.’ Following its September 2024 purchase of Magnolia Park in Wroclaw NEPI Rockcastle’s acquisition of Silesia City Center continues its strategy of expanding its portfolio with high-quality income-generating assets in financially stable countries Silesia City Center comprises 88,400 m2 and has a catchment of over 280,000 within a 15-minute drive and a wider regional market of almost 2.2 million within 45 minutes The sellers - Allianz Finance VII Luxembourg and Cura Beteiligungsgesellschaft International - are independent of NEPI Rockcastle and ultimately owned by Allianz Finance VIII Luxembourg Copyright © 1997–2025 IPE International Publishers Limited Site powered by Webvision Cloud Europe’s third largest listed retail real estate company by portfolio value Distributable earnings (both in absolute terms and per share) and net operating income were the highest in the Group’s history The 11.8% increase in distributable earnings (5.6% on a per share basis) was in line with the upward revision to guidance communicated in August 2024 Portfolio value at year-end reached almost €8 billion consolidating NEPI Rockcastle’s position as one of the largest and fastest growing retail property landlords in Europe NEPI Rockcastle acquired two of the most attractive retail properties in Poland Magnolia Park in Wroclaw and Silesia City Center in Katowice which will significantly contribute to growth in coming years The Company is also firmly on track to deliver on its ambitious development pipeline NEPI Rockcastle ended the year with an LTV of 32.1% and €1.1 billion in liquidity (including unused credit facilities) even after the major investments made in 2024 reinforcing its commitment to balance sheet strength as a key priority for the Group NEPI Rockcastle strongly believes in the positive economic prospects for its CEE markets but the macroeconomic environment remains unpredictable and challenging and the Group has to be prepared for a range of possible future scenarios In 2024, NEPI Rockcastle reaffirmed its commitment to achieve its ambitious sustainability objectives. Key initiatives include reducing emissions, transitioning to renewable energy, achieving zero avoidable waste, and conserving natural resources. Additional efforts focus on ESG certifying of the asset portfolio, supporting tenant-led sustainability initiatives, fostering local employment, and enhancing visitor satisfaction. The Company completed the installation of photovoltaic panels in Romania and Lithuania achieving a total installed capacity of 38 MW across 28 properties (30 installations) The second phase of this renewable energy programme will add another 15 MW in 23 of NEPI Rockcastle’s properties outside Romania (individual projects are under various stages of design The third phase aims to develop greenfield photovoltaic plants with a much larger capacity the Group acquired two project companies holding land rights building permits and grid connection permits for photovoltaic projects with a cumulated capacity of 159 MW are expected to generate a return on capital roughly relativeto retail developments they will significantly expand the Group’s green energy generating capacity and the proportion of its tenants’ electricity consumption enhancing the revenues from green energy production Rüdiger Dany concluded: “NEPI Rockcastle’s impressive financial performance in 2024 and the significant portfolio expansion have established solid foundations for the future. In 2025 we will continue looking for opportunities to grow our business that make strategic sense and deliver optimal investment returns.” We use cookies for keeping our website reliable and secure providing social media features and to analyse how our website is used Monsson Group sold a 50 MW photovoltaic project in northwest Romania to shopping mall operator NEPI Rockcastl 0 It bought it from Monsson Group. The developer said all permits are there and that the start of construction is scheduled for January “Now is the time for large consumers to invest in renewables to make their own consumption more efficient and this is certainly just the beginning,” said Sebastian Enache Monsson’s board member responsible for mergers and acquisitions The site is in Arad county in the country’s northwest The initiative is an important step in the joint strategy of the two companies to accelerate the transition to renewable energy sources and long-term sustainability NEPI Rockcastle owns and operates shopping centers The company completed the first phase of its green energy project in the first half of the year It said it installed photovoltaic panels across 27 locations in Romania with 38 MW in total capacity according to the financial report for the first nine months of 2024 The second stage involving shopping malls outside Romania There are 24 locations with an overall 15 MW in various stages of permitting or construction The third phase is to invest in greenfield ready-to-build photovoltaic projects in Romania for a potential capacity of more than 100 MW is under due diligence “The company has earmarked almost EUR 100 million for these projects,” the report adds Be the first one to comment on this article (KEK) began the reconstruction and modernization of one of the two units in its Kosovo B coal power plant 06 May 2025 - The island town of Novalja could become one of the first in Croatia to begin the production of green hydrogen 05 May 2025 - The delegations from the two countries met on the sidelines of the 10th summit meeting of the Three Seas Initiative 05 May 2025 - The Trebinje 3 photovoltaic plant would have an installed capacity of 53.63 MW and an estimated annual production of 85.5 GWh © CENTER FOR PROMOTION OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 2008-2020 website developed by ogitive Europe’s third largest listed retail real estate company has acquired the Silesia City Center mall in Katowice in the Silesia province of southern Poland for €405M One of the largest shopping centre transactions in Central and Eastern Europe in recent years Silesia City Center extends over 88,400sq m of gross lettable area (GLA) and is a dominant shopping centre in Katowice economically one of the strongest cities in Poland with average spending per capita exceeding the national average by 35 per cent The investment was primarily funded by NEPI Rockcastle’s successful €300M equity raise completed in October The transaction also follows NEPI Rockcastle’s €373M acquisition of the Magnolia Park shopping centre in Wroclaw in southwest Poland in September this year which was then the largest single asset retail real estate deal in Central and Eastern Europe since at least 2022 Silesia City Center has a strong operational performance which is anticipated to even grow after the integration of the property into NEPI Rockcastle’s shopping centre portfolio the biggest in CEE and following the implementation of asset management initiatives by the company said: “We are grateful for the confidence that NEPI Rockcastle’s investors have placed in our company during the recent equity raise as we continue to deliver on our strategy with the acquisition of Silesia City Center one of Poland’s largest and wealthiest cities and we look forward bringing our asset management expertise Contact us: info@rli.uk.com historians at Sapienza University of Rome are digging through archives to reconstruct the stories of Jewish scholars expelled under Mussolini's 1938 Racial Laws 2024Get email notification for articles from Ariel David FollowNov 11 2024ROME – Historians rarely achieve the celebrity status that leads to them being recognized in public a professor at Sapienza University of Rome when she went to her gym one day in early 2023 recorded a net operating income of 556 million Euro in 2024 Distributable earnings (both in absolute terms and per share) were the highest in the Group’s history The 11.8 percent increase in distributable earnings (5.6 percent on a per share basis) was in line with the upward revision to guidance communicated in August 2024 NEPI Rockcastle said “Our robust financial performance reflects the operational excellence of our portfolio and the strength of consumer demand in Central and Eastern European markets The 13.2 percent increase in NOI last year was fundamentally driven by higher tenant sales allowing us to raise base rents and collect more turnover rent (up by 15 percent versus 2023) The occupancy cost ratio (“OCR”) has remained at the same sustainable level since 2022 which demonstrates our success in working collaboratively with our retailer partners to create and share value together We strive through active asset management to constantly improve our properties and make them even more attractive for both retail brands and consumers we managed to bring down vacancy to 1.7 percent across the portfolio — a remarkable achievement we also look to grow through financially accretive and sustainable investments NEPI Rockcastle reaffirmed its commitment to achieve its sustainability objectives Key initiatives include reducing emissions Additional efforts focus on ESG certifying of the asset portfolio supporting tenant-led sustainability initiatives are expected to generate a return on capital roughly relative to retail developments they will significantly expand the Group’s green energy generating capacity and the proportion of its tenants’ electricity consumption incorporated in England and Wales (company number 15236213) having its registered office at 4 Bouverie Street The content you are trying to view is exclusive to our subscribers You have reached the limit for gifting for this month The Czech hotel sector saw a transaction volume of EUR 340 miln in Q1 2025 Prime rents in Prague city centre reached EUR 30 in the first quarter of the year and the vacancy rate continues to decline according to the latest research from Prague Research Forum Segro European Logistics Partnership (SELP) has acquired a fully leased warehouse park in Sázava near Prague CA Immo exits non-core market Serbia with the sale of the 19,600 sqm office building Sava Business Center in Belgrade Both the sales price and the buyer are subject to confidentiality As the PBSA sector finally takes off in Poland it is now increasingly attracting international operators and investors Eurobuild CEE spoke to Xior's investment manager about why it has such confidence in the Polish market Residential developer Develia has signed a preliminary agreement to acquire all the shares in Bouygues Immobilier Polska the Polish subsidiary of Bouygues Immobilier ESA logistika has leased 15,000 sqm in Prologis Park Piotrków GLP has completed the development of its Wrocław V Logistics Centre and has received a BREEAM rating of Outstanding Panattoni has secured EUR 40 mln in financing from BNP Paribas for the development of Panattoni Park Sosnowiec IV Newgate Investment (NGI) and Redkom Development are developing a large retail park in Bydgoszcz Deutsche Hypo – NORD/LB Real Estate Finance has provided a five-year green loan to Olivia Seven for the refinancing of the Olivia Prime A office building in Gdańsk-Oliwa communications and security company Motorola Solutions has signed a five-year lease renewal 18,000 sqm at the Green Office complex in Kraków’s Podgórze district Falling interest rates and easing monetary policy across the eurozone and CEEi are boosting investor confidence in the region’s commercial real estate market reveals Colliers in its ‘Beyond Real Estate | Economy’ report Panattoni is to build the Panattoni Park Mainz Süd in Erbes-Büdesheim bei Alzey Axi Immo has presented its latest report “Warsaw Office Market – Q1 2025 The market opened in 2025 on a steady footing with a notable increase in leasing activity and a modest decline in vacancy landlords continue to focus on upgrading existing assets and prioritizing quality over quantity Convenience store chain Żabka has officially opened a new logistics centre in Kąty Wrocławskie The first stage of the development will serve 1,500 stores in the Wrocław area Romanian Post has leased over 5,000 sqm of logistics space in CTPark Bucharest to serve as its temporary regional courier and logistics hub for Bucharest JLL has announced the sale and leaseback of two properties by a manufacturing company in a deal worth over PLN 1 bln Warehouse developer CTP is adding 2,000 sqm to its Clubco coworking development in Brno pbb Deutsche Pfandbriefbank has extended an investment facility to PineBridge Benson Elliot for the Diuna Office Park in Warsaw Panattoni has been granted a EUR 14 mln loan from Alior Bank for the development of an 11,190 sqm centre for a leading logistics operator Xior has bought the Basecamp Wrocław student residence Sienkiewicza has 780 rooms and is the largest in Poland in terms of floor space Newgate Investment has completed the purchase of a retail park at ul 16,000 sqm and stands on the site of a former Tesco hypermarket investors bought commercial real estate with a total value of EUR 155.8 mln according to a study by Fortim Trusted Advisors followed by investments from Lebanon and Romania (9 pct) Berlin Hyp has just released the findings of its Trendbarometer survey of just under 140 real estate professionals Santander Bank Polska and Helaba have granted AFI a total of EUR 120 mln in refinancing for four PRS assets under the brand AFI Home in Warsaw This is the largest transaction of its type in this sector in Poland Panattoni has secured financing from mBank for its latest project in the Małopolska region The €26 mln funding will be used to develop the modern logistics complex Generali Adriatic Value Fund has concluded the sale of two properties in Ljubljana: Stekleni Dvor and Tivoli Center The buyer of both properties is Agromarket Logistic The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is providing a regional loan of up to EUR 120 mln to AFI Europe to support its development pipeline across Serbia BIG Poland has announced the acquisition of Power Park Olsztyn a shopping centre located in the southern part of Olsztyn This strategic investment reinforces the company’s commitment to expanding its presence in Poland’s retail sector through high-quality assets Spring has very much sprung and everywhere is bathed in the first warm sunshine of the year I have in the back of my mind the terrifying fo .. The Polish warehouse market has finally stabilised after the post-pandemic boom but new challenges and opportunities are on the horizon for the sector UBM Development has been given the go-ahead for the first wooden office building in Poland: Timber Park in Poleczki Business Park in Warsaw The office market in Warsaw is currently experiencing a period of stability in terms of supply and take-up Recent data on overall tenant activity indicates that clients in the cap .. Receive all the latest information from the world of real estate by e-mail the construction of the Aura residential building designed by Robert Konieczny's office KWK Promes According to a report by research company Spectis “Construction companies in Poland 2025-2030” the total revenues of the 300 leading construction gro .. The Globalworth Foundation has provided the authorities in Bucharest with office space for a Covid vaccination centre Panattoni BTS and Commercecon together support the establishment of the second Centaurus Foundation centre in Poland to help horses and other animals intends to focus on operations in other reg .. Six class A office buildings in the PRO Portfolio which is jointly owned by PineBridge Benson Elliot and Sharow Capital have been granted BREEAM In-U .. Who won this year's 14th edition of the Eurobuild Awards The jury and guests gathered at the Double Tree by Hilton hotel in Warsaw chose this year's .. Enjoy the last set of recordings with comments straight from this year's MIPIM we asked experts from our home country for their input will take place on 9-10 April 2025 at the Norblin Factory Event Hall in W .. we invite you to hot episode of the "Eye to eye" podcast The UN Nansen Refugee Award award will go to Poland for the first time According to the office of the UNHCR High Commissioner this year's regional wi .. Czech developer CTP has been granted a EUR 200 mln loan from the European Investment Bank for the roll-out of its large-scale solar panel installation .. The hotel market in Bucharest continued its recovery in 2024 while the ADR has finally surpassed the milestone .. Jarosław Szanajca plans to resign from the position of president of the management board of Dom Development at the end of the year and join the superv .. The Polish and Danish governments have entered preliminary discussions for the construction of a tunnel between Szczecin and Copenhagen underneath the .. Viterra has moved into its ​​new 1,500 sqm offices in Olivia Prime part of the Olivia Centre business complex in Gdańsk Panattoni has acquired two properties near Gothenburg The brownfield sites will be replaced by a modern 43,000 sqm facility Contemporary cities are grappling with the challenge of fostering dynamic growth while alleviating environmental pressures Colliers has taken over the management of the Studio B office building located in the Warsaw Wola district The property is owned by Stena Real Estate .. The University of Warsaw has signed a contract with the general contractor for a project at ul The new building will house the faculti .. Torus has announced its All.inn students’ residence concept that is soon to appear on ul Velis Real Estate Tech is officially changing its name to Singu adopting the title of its property management product the construction of the Panattoni Park Unterfranken has officially started a wholly owned subsidiary of European real estate company Nepi Rockcastle has successfully closed a €500 mln unsecured green bond Already have an IPE Real Assets account? Sign in If you had a PropertyEU account, simply reset your password to get access to IPE Real Assets New users can Register for free today for access to the PropertyEU Archive and IPE Real Assets Register today The property is located in the province of Silesia in southern Poland and was previously owned by a consortium of Allianz with a total lettable area of more than 88,400 sqm one of Poland’s most economically powerful cities where the average per capita spending is 35% higher than the national average The investment was mainly financed by a successful €300m capital increase in October 2024 by NEPI Rockcastle Rockcastle. This transaction comes on the heels of the acquisition of the Magnolia Park shopping center, located in southwestern Poland (Wroclaw), which took place in September and was, at the time, the largest transaction by value completed for a single property in the CEE region since early 2022. Silesia City Center is performing strongly financially and this value is forecasted to increase as the property is integrated into NEPI Rockcastle’s Rockcastle portfolio and as asset management initiatives are implemented Silesia City Center enjoys a key position in the Katowice region and is strategically located in the city directly serving an area of more than 280,000 inhabitants within a 15-minute drive as well as a regional area of almost 2.2 million people within a 45-minute drive The center offers excellent visibility and easy access by both public and personal transportation "As a child, like many others, I started playing football, then at nine years old I also started going to the gym since my uncle and cousin are part of the company - echoes Scardigli -. And from there I never stopped, after all I have always liked challenges. Now I am very busy with work and for the moment I have no other meetings planned, a dream in the drawer? I would have one, but I am also aware that now it has become difficult to achieve it". NEPI Rockcastle has acquired the 100,000 sqm Magnolia Park shopping centre in Wroclaw from Union Investment in an off-market transaction Union Investment acquired Magnolia Park in 2017 for the portfolio of the open-ended real estate fund UniImmo: Europa we benefitted from our strong network and showed that the right product can meet the expectations of buyers and sellers even in a challenging market environment,” says Roman Müller Head of Investment Management Retail at Union Investment “Magnolia Park continues to perform well in terms of footfall and sales figures We have therefore taken the current opportunity to sell the shopping centre and to strategically reduce our exposure in Poland,” says Henri Eisenkopf Director Transactions Shopping Places at Union Investment Anchor tenants among the 240 stores in the centre include well-known brands such as Carrefour Magnolia Park has a BREEAM Excellent sustainability certification NEPI Rockcastle was assisted by Linklaters as buy-side legal advisor, PwC on tax and financial aspects and PM Services as technical advisor while Union Investment was advised commercially by JLL, legally by CMS and on tax aspects by Thedy & Partners. The potential acquisition remains subject to the execution of formal written agreements which is expected to occur in the coming weeks the Blackstone fund sold the mall for EUR 380 mln to a fund owned by Union Investment Real Estate Nepi Rockcastle is the owner of about 60 properties The total leasable area of the assets comes to around 2.2 mln sqm with a combined value of app NEPI Rockcastle announces it has started the permitting process for the development of Galati Retail Park which includes 40,900 sqm of retail and 21,500 sqm of residential units The expected date for obtaining the building permit is in Q3 2025 and the anticipated opening date is in Q4 2026 The Group’s growth strategy is to expand and renew its core portfolio and deliver a 788 million euros development pipeline Sustainability is a key focus for NEPI Rockcastle with an ambitious energy project central to the Group’s efforts to green its portfolio a 34 million euros installation of photovoltaic panels in 27 retail locations in Romania is now complete and produced revenues of 7.9 million euros in 9M 2024 involving a roll out of the programme in the Group’s shopping centres outside Romania The concept design was completed for 24 locations identified as suitable for development adding up to a total installed capacity of 15 MW The 24 locations are in various stages of permitting or construction Under the third phase of the green energy project a location has already been secured for the development of a 50 MW project in the west of the country Construction is expected to start in Q1 2025 A second location has been identified with a capacity potential of more than 100 MW and is currently under due diligence The company has earmarked almost 100 million euros for these projects Business Review is thrilled to announce that Robert Ionita, Group Legal Counsel & Corporate Affairs at NEPI Rockcastle, will be a distinguished speaker at the Foreign Investors Summit 2024 This significant event is set to take place at The Marmorosch Bucharest assembling a renowned group of industry leaders and legal experts to discuss key topics related to foreign investment and corporate governance This summit offers an invaluable opportunity to gain knowledge from Robert Ionita and other esteemed figures who are shaping the future of international trade It is an essential gathering for legal professionals and anyone interested in the intricate link between law Simone Kaludjerovic, continues his positive streak. It is not important to underline that he fought both the semi and the final with the thermometer that marked 38 of fever. In June i Italian championships, but first there will be the very difficult one trip to France, where in May he will face the best super lightweights at European level, in the belt trophy, which will take place in the Parisian suburbs. NEPI Rockcastle recorded a 13.5 percent increase in net operating income in the first half of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023 the amount of net operating income reached 274 million euros were 8.7 percent higher in H1 2024 compared to the same period last year The average shopping basket value also increased by 8.2 percent over the same period in 2023 Demand for company-owned retail space continued to be high with 73 percent of new leases signed with retailers internationals attracted by the potential offered by the Central and Eastern European markets Rental income grew above the rate of inflation which helped to increase the value of the company’s property portfolio by €134 million “We continued to deliver solid performance amid clear signs that the economic outlook for our core CEE markets is stabilizing and consumer confidence is on the rise Tenant sales increased across all categories and operating expenses and occupancy cost ratio remained stable NEPI Rockcastle’s portfolio was valued at €7 billion which contributed to a loan-to-value ratio well below our strategic threshold of 35 percent making the group highly liquid,” said Rüdiger Dany Work on development projects is proceeding according to the schedule and within the established budget limits the extension of Promenada Bucharest is planned for inauguration in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2026 and the lease terms have already been agreed for 66 percent of the area The 7,400 sqm extension of Ploiești Shopping City is due to be completed in Q4 2024 and lease terms have been agreed for 96 percent of the additional area the group’s first residential project the company decided to expand its activities in this segment the development of two new residential projects is scheduled They are currently in the permitting process The land they will be built on is adjacent to retail properties owned by NEPI Rockcastle in the two towns the first phase of the company’s green energy project which involved the installation of photovoltaic panels on 27 shopping centers in Romania the investment in this project has totaled 34 million euros The second stage is in the authorization stage and involves the implementation of the same concept in 24 properties owned by the company outside Romania with a total investment estimated at 15 million euros NEPI Rockcastle plans to invest approximately 100 million euros in greenfield photovoltaic projects to expand its green energy generation capacity and to be able to better cover the needs of electricity consumption of its tenants The first installations are expected to become operational by the end of 2026 and will contribute an additional 159 MW to the group’s own generation capacity 80 percent of the Romanian portfolio’s energy consumption will be ensured while reducing the carbon footprint by 36 percent CEO of NEPI Rockcastle - Europe’s third-largest listed retail real estate company with a €6.9bn portfolio - has spoken passionately about the potential for the group’s new energy strategy a biotech company specialized in the development of protein and peptide therapeutics targeting the Myc oncoprotein for cancer treatment announces today that has appointed veteran pharma and biotech executive Giacomo Di Nepi as Chairman of the Board Di Nepi has accumulated nearly 40 years of global experience in the Healthcare sector His career started with 16 years at McKinsey & Company where he was a Partner and Core Leadership member of the Global Pharmaceutical Practice followed by 11 years at Novartis where he held a number of executive roles including CEO of Novartis Italy and Global Head of the Infectious Diseases Transplantation and Immunology Global Business Unit and member of the Global Pharma Executive Committee He subsequently served as CEO of Takeda Europe starting in 2006 he started and substantially grew the European operations of InterMune and launched the blockbuster rare disease product Esbriet® (pirfenidone) until InterMune purchase for USD 8.3bn and integration with Roche in 2015 Di Nepi became CEO of Polyphor in Switzerland and led the company bringing two products to Phase III and successfully raising over CHF 200m – including a CHF 155m IPO which was the largest primary biotech IPO in Switzerland in the previous 10 years He was recently appointed as Senior Advisor for Health Care Private Equity in Europe by KKR and is a Non-Executive Director at Geneuro He is also an advisor to Handicap International says: “We are delighted to have Giacomo joining us His impressive track record in the Healthcare sector together with his experience in different executive and Board roles at some of the most prestigious pharma and biotech companies worldwide represent a huge new asset for our company I am confident that Giacomo will significantly contribute to the success of our project and bring a new and valuable point of view to the table.” “I am extremely happy and honored to join Peptomyc” “I believe Peptomyc has a strong team and a breakthrough technology that could provide a radical innovation in oncology and deliver major therapeutic benefit to the patients suffering from several types of cancer and substantial and sustained value creation to its shareholders This is a particularly exciting moment to join the company as it is now entering the clinical stage with its lead compound OMO103 - with the first patient expected to be recruited in a Phase I/II trial in Q1 2021.” Peptomyc (www.peptomyc.com) is a spin-off from VHIO – the Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology – and ICREA – the Catalan Institute of Research and Advanced Studies – The company is focused on the development of innovative cell penetrating peptides (CPPs) targeting the Myc oncoprotein for cancer treatment PEPTOMYC S.L.Office email: info@peptomyc.comCentre CELLEX - C/ Natzaret With a gross lettable area of 883,000 square feet Paradise Center is the largest retail center in Sofia The center is located in the wealthy southern part of the city Opened in 2013 and benefiting from a corner location at the intersection between two main traffic arteries and direct access to the newly built M2 metro line Paradise Center has an annual footfall in excess of 10 million visitors The mall is let to major national and international tenants such as Bershka Sofia Event Center (a conference facility) The center has a strong food and entertainment area which includes both a complete fast and slow food line up a fitness facility with a 25m swimming pool including major improvements to the basement and the terrace level together with enhancements to the tenant mix will further strengthen its dominant market position With a growing population of over 1.32 million inhabitants Sofia is the economic and cultural center of Bulgaria and an attractive head office destination for international companies Benefiting from a developing infrastructure and strategic location Sofia is a major hub for international railway and automobile transport with three Pan-European corridors crossing the city Bulgaria’s economy has shown robust growth with GDP growth of 3.6 percent in 2015 and 3.3 percent in 2016 Growth is forecast to remain strong at 2.8 percent-2.9 percentper year in 2017-2021 (compared to a forecast growth of 1.4 percent-1.5 percent in the European Union) as domestic and external demand continues to increase (according to the Economist Intelligence Unit) Glossary, videos, podcasts, research in the Resource Center Upload your latest press release or suggest a story idea to our editorial team We use cookies and other tracking technologies to personalize your user experience on our site and perform site analytics. 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SearchBrowseServicesOpen researchInstitution LoginSearchMenu links - No HTML tags allowed- Web page URLs will display as text only- Lines and paragraphs break automatically- Attachments Your email address will be used in order to notify you when your comment has been reviewed by the moderator and in case the author(s) of the article or the moderator need to contact you directly shared ownership in or any close relationship with any organisation whose interests may be affected by the publication of the response Please also list any non-financial associations or interests (personal religious or other) that a reasonable reader would want to know about in relation to the submitted work This pertains to all the authors of the piece Two men have been arrested for several armed bank robberies around the Brandywine Hundred area over the last few months Delaware State Police arrested Christopher Tigani on Thursday morning and charged them in relation to five robberies or attempted robberies that have happened just north of Wilmington starting in May Officers patrolling the area near Concord Pike stopped Tigani as he ran toward the entrance of a WSFS Bank wearing gloves and a blue scarf pulled over his face Thursday morning they found a loaded .45 caliber Ruger handgun Officers then found that Nepi had driven Tigani to the scene in a Honda Accord that was parked behind the bank in the Fairfax development The pair were taken to the police station in Glasgow and linked to a handful of other bank robberies at the Artisans Bank at 3631 Silverside Road and the pair were linked to a June 8 robbery at the same location and a July 24 robbery at the WSFS Bank at 2005 Concord Pike They were also linked to an attempted robbery on August 4 at the M&T Bank at 5107 Concord Pike as well as the attempted robbery that led to their arrest on Thursday according to an earlier release from officers who were investigating the first three robberies Each incident happened between 9 and 9:30 a.m Tigani was charged with four counts of first-degree robbery two counts of first-degree attempted robbery four counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony five counts of wearing a disguise during the commission of a felony and five counts of second-degree conspiracy Nepi was charged with three counts of first-degree robbery Both were arraigned and committed to the Young Correctional Institution for lack of secured bail – $157,000 for Tigani and $110,000 for Nepi Contact Saranac Hale Spencer at (302) 324-2909, sspencer@delawareonline.com or on Twitter @SSpencerTNJ Too many automated requests from this network italyall images courtesy of romano adolini This residential project by italian architect romano adolini is designed for three young friends who decided to build their homes together and could be considered an architectural exploration of the theme of friendship The corner lot in a residential area had already been chosen by the clients where the three buildings were constructed at 45 degree angles to each other pivoting around a fulcrum point planted with an olive tree – a symbol of companionship – and connected by a portico that anticipates the identical volumes of the three dwellings: each home is a single volume with a single-pitched copper roof On the external facade the large double height window opens onto the pool while the walls are faced with tufo treated all’orvietana front view with swimming pool and small dividing wall designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here. AXOR presents three bathroom concepts that are not merely places of function but destinations in themselves — sanctuaries of style You currently use an outdated internet browser. You can upgrade to a modern browser or use the Google Chrome Frame to optimize your viewing experience We are proud to announce that we signed contracts for a huge project in the Mammut Shopping and Entertainment Centre in Budapest one of the most dominant retail property investment and development companies in Central and Eastern Europe we are thriving to create an individual parking infrastructure to provide visitors a great experience As we like to say it: The shopping experience begins in the parking garage Nepi Rockcastle’s skilled and experienced management team actively manages its portfolio of highly rated retail assets They embrace a strong corporate culture focused on planning It is not the first time we cooperated with Nepi Rockcastle In 2008 we installed the parking structure in the Arena Mall in Budapest which we upgraded in 2019 after Nepi Rockcastle had acquired the property We are happy to pursue and nurture that cooperation and relationship and we are looking forward to working together in future projects It is not only because of this cooperation though that this project has a great significance to us Mammut Shopping and Entertainment Centre has a total leasable area of around 57.000 m2 with more than 300 shops – and an accordingly high visitor flow the mall is located at one of the busiest transport hubs in downtown Budapest with more than 23.000 vehicles passing through daily This calls for a well-organized parking structure – and this is where Designa comes into play On a covered parking area of more than 25.000m2 and nearly 1000 parking spaces we are going to reorganize the whole existing parking structure offering seamless connectivity and state-of-the-art technology to enhance the parking experience DESIGNA USA is a subsidiary of DESIGNA;Verkehrsleittechnik GmbH The company’s visionary standards have led to the development of innovative products and solutions for the parking management sector for more than 65 years NEPI Rockcastle has established itself as the leading owner and operator of retail assets in the CEE region helping to uphold communities and economies in nine countries The past 30 years have often been described as the golden age of growth for Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) the region having flourished with the emergence of traditional market economies following the fall of the Berlin Wall Slovakia and Slovenia between them recorded an average 114 percent growth in GDP per capita Spain and the UK – managed just 27 percent growth in this same metric during that period that CEE has become one of the most attractive regions for investment globally its industries and economies continuing to thrive The largest and dominant retail real estate group in Central and Eastern Europe it is a company that has come to epitomise the aforementioned prosperity having grown 15-fold in the past eight years “The evolution of the business in recent years has been very exciting,” explains Mirela Covasa the firm’s Chief Financial Officer and an individual that is able to recall its impressive rise having originally joined the enterprise back in 2012 “Real estate accounts for approximately 50 percent of global assets and the industry is constantly evolving in terms of policy It is a highly dynamic and engaging setting – especially in rapidly growing markets such as those in Eastern Europe where we operate – which challenges everyone working in this field “NEPI Rockcastle has achieved a lot in the past decade Our coverage has expanded from being solely Romanian to CEE-wide and we are now present in nine countries.” The organisation initially started out in 2007 when New Europe Property Investments (NEPI) invested South African capital in Romanian real estate doing so with the mandate of creating a portfolio of individually selected assets that offered long-term sustainable rental growth and then in shopping centres as we realised the potential that retail real estate had in converting Romania’s impressive GDP growth into shareholder wealth,” Covasa adds “With more experience came a better understanding of the market and we started making significant improvements to our assets first through management initiatives such as enhancing the tenant mix and offering more entertainment options like cinemas and skating rings and then through more complex projects like extensions and the redevelopment of properties.” This emphasis on diversification and upgrades led NEPI to its first landmark greenfield project – Bucharest’s Mega Mall With a gross leasable area of 75,800 square metres and built area of more than 200,000 square metres it quickly became one of the capital’s and indeed country’s largest constructions aside from infrastructure developments acknowledged as a commercial and social hub for the highly populated surrounding neighbourhoods “We also started expanding into other CEE countries we had obtained our investment-grade rating which allowed a significant shift in our funding policy from secured Such distinct headway in turn opened a number of new doors for the company particularly in the way of investment opportunities It began to further expand its portfolio with flagship malls in capital cities and the Serdika Center and Paradise Center – the top two shopping locations in Sofia “The most significant milestone in our history to date was the successful merger between NEPI and Rockcastle in 2017,” Covasa claims the South African entity joined forces with a Poland-focussed group that had a similar investment strategy and shareholding base expertise and knowledge of the two were combined creating the market leader in CEE’s retail real estate The CFO continues: “Our Polish portfolio now includes the Bonarka City Center and the merger also resulted in a credit rating upgrade to BBB which bolstered our access to capital markets and decreased the cost of funding.” “NEPI Rockastle has achieved a lot in the past decade the pace of progress has not slowed in the near three years since the successful completion of this merger either In the past three years it has proceeded to delve across borders once again into Hungary and Lithuania as well as reinforce its position in Romania and Poland investing into existing centres and new assets such as Promenada Sibiu – a flagship development and major tourist attraction in one of Romania’s most affluent cities “In 2018 we also finalised our first greenfield development in Serbia after only 16 months of work,” Covasa states located in the country’s second largest city which will be a 2021 European capital of culture The mall serves a catchment area of more than 600,000 people.” the sheer size and breadth of NEPI Rockcastle’s portfolio is a key differentiator of the company consistent long-term growth prospects and a leading investment rating Many of its assets are dominant in their individual catchment areas with limited or no competition and are located in geographically diverse areas that are generally densely populated 97 percent of its assets can be found in cities with catchment areas of more than 150,000 people with 45 percent based in capital cities and Krakow Its investment strategy has been crucial in facilitating this climb Yet it is not the only way in which the company continues to stand out from the crowd it also bringing unrivalled expertise and industry knowledge to the table With more than 12 years’ experience in retail real estate NEPI Rockcastle has mastered the intricate and specialist nuances of successful asset management underpinned by a best-in-industry workforce and exceptional track record “We have a holistically integrated platform a team with expertise covering all areas of real estate finance and understand the CEE retail markets inside out as is illustrated by our first-class indicators,” Covasa states confidently delivers constant and seamless cross-border dialogue with anchor tenants and these strong relationships bring notable market entries throughout our portfolio.” To say that this vast experience makes the company conservative or static Its consistent reinvestment strategy into refurbishments and expansions reflect its proactive mindset the firm also always on the lookout to bring successful brands on board and implement progressive retail real estate concepts the company consistently adapts its business model in line with changing consumer preferences currently focussed on improving its portfolio in the way of food outlets entertainment options and general user wellness in the aim of positioning its assets as pillars of communities the emergence of ecommerce is undoubtedly a challenge to retail real estate yet it is one that NEPI Rockcastle is embracing and overcoming proactively “Our response to ecommerce is omnichannel-focussed,” Covasa affirms highly popular shopping centres and less high street outlets in Central and Eastern Europe create the perfect opportunity to successfully combine offline and online retail providing customers with the best of both worlds Monitoring tenants’ sales and effort ratios replacing low-performing tenants with exciting new stores and integrating online and offline by implementing online shopping pickup points and concept stores are all examples of our efforts “The assimilation of online delivery into the physical retail environment delivery points and the integration of retailers’ operations with customers’ habits also results in higher footfall and increased sales due to upselling exhibitions and science fairs to back this up and increase community integration.” Ongoing asset development and operational changes are not the only ways in which NEPI Rockcastle provides benefit to the populations that it serves While Covasa is happy to admit that it is highly rewarding for the company to see how these efforts contribute to growing local economies and truly impact people’s lives in a positive way corporate governance is an alternative way in which the company delivers this in a socially responsible manner it has been a major focus for the company in recent times The firm has vastly improved its corporate governance recognised by Sustainalytics – a leading independent provider of environmental social and corporate governance (ESG) research and ratings – which appraised its ESG risk as low which measures the performance of companies demonstrating strong ESG activities included the company in its latest listing “We are committed to being a responsible corporate citizen focussed on long-term sustainable growth,” Covasa comments “We consistently invest in improving our buildings’ energy efficiency All properties have good access to public transport and we encourage green transportation alternatives such as bicycles by providing adequate facilities and we focus on three main pillars in order to contribute to healthier and more responsible ecosystems We organise hundreds of activities for our customers and we also partner with local and international NGOs by donating or designing and implementing community programmes.” The company’s HR strategy also makes a difference this time to the benefit of the its own employees “This includes targeted training programmes which empower people to add value in their current roles and help the organisation to adapt more quickly to changing business environments,” the CFO adds owing to continual results in its operational endeavours the company looks set to be able to further make inroads in the way of CSR and employee empowerment moving forward The company’s highly impressive 2019 financial results 12 years on since its inception and three years since the completed merger its assets continue to prosper and bolster the company’s already sound business profile a growing pipeline and the opportunity to further capitalise on attractive opportunities in the markets in which it operates “We have achieved our targeted results in a competitive market,” Covasa says proudly “Net operating income grew 16 percent by comparison to the previous year and this translated into a growth of 6.6 percent in dividends per share and the value of our assets was over €6.2 billion at the end of the year 2019 “We also maintained our investment grade rating issued €1 billion unsecured Eurobonds and extended debt maturities while our loan-to-value ratio remained prudent at 32 percent the future looks incredibly bright for NEPI Rockcastle the company will continue to improve its portfolio in an attempt to maximise returns for its shareholders and other stakeholders as well as focus on honing its investment and development strategy in line with changes in the market the global outbreak of COVID-19 may have some adverse effects many of which have already come to fruition across industries of all kinds Yet Covasa is still able to end our conversation on a confident note iterating that the core assets of this company are strong and stable She concludes: “We expect to open several new projects including finalising a new mall in Targu Mures and are considering investments in other real estate sectors aimed at improving asset efficiency and attracting environmentally friendly financing strong liquidity and a highly experienced team of professionals who are constantly seeking new opportunities We are confident that our skills and expertise will contribute to consolidating our position within the CEE – the region which registered the highest growth rate in Europe.” We use cookies to ensure your best experience on our website. If you continue using our website, we'll assume you agree to our cookie policy To stand in the new gallery of Judaica in Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) is to experience the power of objects to tell stories the elegant objects and paintings that make up Intentional Beauty Jewish Ritual Art from the Collection reflect Jewish resilience and dedication to beauty found through Jewish practice No matter which country Jews have found themselves in — Iran Italy or the United States — the craftsmanship of these magnificent objects testifies to their makers’ dedication to Jewish life and practice art museums (as opposed to Jewish museums) that include Judaica galleries In December 2017 the Italian-born Simona Di Nepi was hired as the first dedicated curator of Judaica at the MFA the first full-time Judaica curator at a global museum in the world was “to put Jewish culture and Jewish art on the physical and figurative map.” While there are Judaica objects scattered throughout the museum it’s incredibly powerful to now have Jewish objects in a dedicated space Di Nepi has acquired 45 objects since she was hired The majority of the objects in the new gallery are now on display for the first time The masterpiece in the center of the room is a silver Torah shield from Galicia “This is a treasure not just of the gallery but of the European silver collection,” Di Nepi said As is the case with many of the objects in the gallery you need to look closely to appreciate its mastery A Torah shield is usually designed to be seen only from the front but this one is intricately carved on both sides On the front you can see a layer of gilded silver There are also three-dimensional figures of Moses and Aaron on it flanking a jeweled crown (representing the Torah) and a replica of the Ten Commandments over a shield of silver intertwined plants and animals was once a popular decoration on the monumental pre-war synagogues in Galicia (now Eastern Poland and Western Ukraine) that were later destroyed by the Nazis The back of the shield is minutely engraved with the story of the binding of Isaac with details impossible to see with the naked eye a level of detail only usually seen in book engravings an interactive display screen actually allows you to magnify the image to catch the details including the proud inscription on the back Elevated on a platform, as if on a bimah, is another new acquisition — a Torah ark gifted to the MFA by Rabbi David Whiman This is the central section of an original ark originally created by master woodcarver Sam Katz to contain the Torahs at Shaare Zion synagogue in Chelsea where he opened a wood-making store and made two dozen arks in the 1920s and 1930s all inspired by synagogues of Eastern Europe that were later destroyed by the Nazis and as he traveled from one post to the next The MFA’s Conservation department returned the ark to its fine and in the middle — two gilded hands of Kohanim (Jews of the priestly class) giving a blessing Looking to track down former congregants of Shaare Zion Di Nepi posted about it on Facebook and many responded They were “very excited and emotional,” said Di Nepi “This is the chance to tell the story of Jewish Chelsea where at one point roughly half the population was Jewish with 15 to 20 synagogues in two square miles.” one of 5,000 works of folk art originally donated to the MFA in 1960 by a Russian American Jewish opera singer and collector This lion was once part of a pair that held the Ten Commandments over the ark in the Anshai Poland synagogue in Boston Karolik bought the lion from an antique store in Boston’s south end carved the wood so it seems supple; the lion Showing the diversity of Jewish experience in the diaspora where it was the custom to have a hard embossed silver Torah case “What is wonderful about this work besides the level of detail and craftsmanship of an art that was passed down from Jew to Jew in Baghdad is the story that it tells,” said Di Nepi “We have Iraq and India in a single object.” Also testifying to Jewish roots in India is a recently acquired Haggadah opened to a page showing women in saris baking matzah written in Hebrew and translated into Marathi This book belonged to the Bene Israel (Children of Israel) Since light causes the pages to deteriorate after six months these pages are only displayed for a short time There are no objects here from the Holocaust except for a print of a black and white photo taken by photojournalist Henryk Ross of a man rescuing the Torah from the rubble of the Lodz Ghetto in 1940 cradling it in his arms as if it were human “I felt like it says everything we need to say,” said Di Nepi “about the value and importance of the Torah and of the textiles that cover it in Judaism.” the pair of gorgeous finials made in 1729 by the earliest known Jewish silversmith in England — imbues this space once one puts objects from the past behind glass of this becoming a gallery of relics of a dead civilization That’s why there’s an entire wall of contemporary Judaica here as well as an example of Tamar Paley’s feminist reinterpretation of ritual objects There’s an old Jewish concept known as hiddur mitzvah which means putting extra time or resources into a mitzvah so that it’s performed as beautifully as possible you sense the devotion to hiddur mitzvah of the past several centuries which can give visitors hope for the future of Jewish life and ritual and — something much needed now — something to celebrate Laura Hodes writes about the arts frequently for the Forward and other publications I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning nonprofit journalism during this critical time we have stood together in strength and sorrow Our Forward team has worked around the clock to help you find clarity amid the chaos At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S rising antisemitism and polarized discourse Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up Copyright © 2025 The Forward Association NEPI is an Industry 4.0 smart sensor ecosystem that offers capabilities sensor manufacturers need to rapidly integrate Industry 4.0 functionality within their product offerings “Manually moving a legacy application and all its dependencies to a container has typically taken three-to-six months per application customers will be able to streamline provisioning of NEPI software from months to minutes and deploy these solutions across their entire fleet with a single button press,” explained Numurus CEO and Founder Jason Seawall “It will save them up to $25,000 in development and deployment costs,” he added applications can be moved to a container environment allowing Numurus to have a single container for its deployments NEPI product development customers can quickly populate a Cloud hosted library of Edge software solutions that their end customers can access and deploy seamlessly from a Cloud environment for mission and operation specific applications NEPI is a perfect application for the Evolute Platform,” said Evolute Founder and CEO Kristopher Francisco “Enterprise adoption of container platforms is slow—especially for larger organizations with legacy systems container technology isn’t prioritized properly All large companies work to streamline operations and the best way to achieve greater operating efficiency requires the adoption and native deployment of containers NEPI bridges that gap with an automated container platform that removes concerns over networking NEPI BackgroundNEPI is a subscription platform for enabling Cloud-based data product developers can rapidly transform their sensor and robotic technologies into smart IoT enabled solutions making them both more capable and more valuable to the end customer NEPI customers include smart sensor developers One of the key capabilities of the NEPI smart device software platform is the ability to manage smart device software through a Cloud-hosted Edge configuration Portal allowing end-users to select one or multiple smart devices from their fleet and deploy Edge-software from a library of NEPI compatible software with a single button press NEPI also provides a behind the scenes digital-twin system that documents all software and configuration updates for each device About EvoluteEvolute offers a highly scalable container platform with cloud migration a company can take any application an enterprise is currently supporting and migrate it into a container environment and produces the necessary processes to move entire systems from previous environments (i.e. or in a cloud environment) to Linux Containers allowing software to run on their edge platform automatically Evolute’s platform provides container infrastructure and introduces native storage and management to support legacy applications’ streamlined deployment to edge and container environments Media Contact:Jennifer SpoerriGallagher PR415-577-0171jennifer@gallagherpr.com BIG Poland has acquired the Multishop Suwałki retail park comprising 13,000 sqm of retail space The company now owns nine fully commercialized retail parks in Poland Slate Asset Management has sold three OBI retail stores to the Lindner Group from Germany Cushman & Wakefield has conducted a survey the findings of which are presented in the report From Shopping to Experiences: A Customer’s View on Shopping Centres and Retail Parks Cushman & Wakefield notes that despite evolving shopping trends both retail formats continue to hold strong appeal Multi Poland has taken on the management of the Galeria Przymorze shopping centre in Gdańsk The store offers lifestyle and sporting clothing and is to open this spring According to the "Quo Vadis E-commerce" report released by Cushman & Wakefield the online commerce continues to be a growth driver for the industrial & logistics real estate sector generating significant opportunities for developers and investors the investor behind the Projekt Góraszka shopping and entertainment complex in Wiązowna on Warsaw’s eastern outskirts has obtained a building permit for a mixed-use development Poznan-based company Scallier is opening another facility under the Funshop Park brand in Romania According to the latest report “At a Glance: Modern Retail Market in Poland Q4 2024” from BNP Paribas Real Estate Poland Poland’s retail market experienced record growth in 2024 Cushman &Wakefield has summarised the situation on the Polish retail market Over half a mln sqm of new retail space came on stream last year marking the highest new supply level in Poland since 2015 This robust development activity occurred amid rising demand from new retailers and improving consumer sentiment which boosted retail sales A new retail park with a total area of 24,000 sqm is set to be developed in Otwock under the name Świderek The investment will be led by Redkom Development Empik has opened a flagship store in the revitalised former Cepelia pavilion in the centre of Warsaw the modernist building has regained its former glory and once again impresses with its original appearance and modern interior Trei Real Estate Poland has opened its 40th Vendo Park The investment was created in Wrocław and has 5,000 sqm Vendo Park Wrocław is the first facility under this banner in the capital of Lower Silesia The retail park was built on a plot of approx An 800 sqm Biedronka grocery store is to open on the ground floor of the Moje Bielany residential complex which is being developed by CeMat A/S at ul Wólczyńska 121 in Warsaw’s Bielany district This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page Translated by Maria Cianciuolo and revised by Onda Carofiglio students at the Advanced School for Interpreters and Translators of the University of Trieste interns at the newspaper office of the Union of the Italian Jewish Communities – Pagine Ebraiche Seleziona il modo in cui vuoi essere contattato da Unione delle Comunità Ebraiche Italiane: Usiamo Mailchimp come piattaforma per la realizzazione e l'invio dei nostri notiziari. Con l'iscrizione le tue informazioni saranno trasferite a Mailchimp per l'elaborazione. Scopri di più sulla privacy di Mailchimp South Agrican real estate fund NEPI Rockastle reacted to a Viceroy Research report accusing the investor of overstating its profits in Romania claiming that the report contains material errors builds on incorrect assumptions and ignores reporting regulations and basic accounting principles The report sait that NEPI reported gains of EUR 284.4 million for its Romanian businesses while in reality it registered losses of EUR 41 million What NEPI Rockastle says: the Report (although publicly stated by Viceroy to have been prepared over a period of 6 months but without reaching out to the company for feedback) contains material errors Viceroy’s analysis of publicly available information ignores basic accounting principles; Viceroy’s comments regarding the former executive director Dan Pascariu’s affairs ignore NEPI’s public disclosure from 2008 regarding the recusal of Dan Pascariu from any decision in respect of the referenced transactions all of which were appropriately disclosed by the Company; ”While Viceroy states that the Report has been prepared for educational purposes only and that the Report and any statements made within it are not statements of fact it is clear that the issuance of the report by Viceroy seeks to materially impact NEPI Rockcastle and its stakeholders,” NEPI Rockastle said NEPI Rockcastle stakeholders are advised by the company to act prudently when reacting to the allegations set out in the report the company echoes the February 2018 request of South African National Treasury made following Viceroy’s report on Capitec Bank that the Financial Sector Conduct Authority urgently consider whether it should initiate a market abuse investigation into the conduct of Viceroy and to alert relevant overseas regulators to consider whether Viceroy is regulated appropriately and operating in line with their market conduct and market abuse laws In this regard and to facilitate proper investigation the company considers it appropriate that Viceroy and its associates declare any trading positions they may have in NEPI Rockcastle as at the date the report was issued Stakeholders are advised that the Company expressly reserved its rights against Viceroy and any related party or contributor to the report Today's print edition Home Delivery The first item launched in the Nepi Eco series a lineup of environmentally conscious products introduced by Oji Nepia Co one of the world’s major pulp and paper producers tissues and masks were added to the series In a recent interview with The Japan Times Tomoko Takase from the Product Planning Division of Oji Nepia talked about the new ideas and efforts that have been put into these products and underlie Oji’s commitment toward a better global environment Oji owns and manages 573,000 hectares of forests globally which is about 2.5 times as large as the prefecture of Tokyo maintaining forests in a healthy state — proper management of forests keeps them healthy and maximizes their benefits growing trees absorb more carbon dioxide through photosynthesis than old the lack of sunlight makes the forest darker making it more difficult for young trees and underbrush to grow.googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1499653692894-0'); }); “Good soil in healthy forests can prevent disasters such as floods and landslides because of its water-retention capability The groundwater that runs into rivers is clean and contains nutrients Forests contribute not only to the preservation of biodiversity but also to the physical and mental health of people,” Takase said stressing the importance of helping to maintain such diverse functions of forests The Nepi Eco tissues are made of paper certified by the Forest Stewardship Council Oji turns them into products or fuel to support production Saplings are planted and the cycle of growth goes on Some of the paper products are collected for recycling after use “While fossil resources such as oil are depletable The Nepi Eco series is the fruit of Oji Nepia’s pursuit for a higher level of sustainability in its products The rolls of toilet paper are twice as long as the standard 25 meters “Customers are happy because it saves them space and the trouble of having to change toilet paper rolls frequently Stores welcome it too because it requires less space less restocking work and lower shipping costs It can achieve a reduction in delivery trucks’ exhaust emissions at the same time,” Takase said tissues and kitchen paper towels are made of paper certified by the Forest Stewardship Council Eighty percent of the materials used for Nepi Eco Biomass Masks are made from plants such as sugar cane and corn “Conventional nonwoven masks are made of petroleum-based materials,” Takase explained Toilet paper rolls and boxes of tissues are generally sold wrapped in petroleum-based films Oji Nepia tried to challenge this convention by using packaging made of paper and biomass film it selected a wrapping paper that is strong holds up against water and can be run through a machine to package its toilet paper rolls and kitchen paper towels The designs on the packages are printed in biomass ink Boxes of tissues are wrapped in biomass film Biomass materials are also used for the inner packaging for masks The strips of plastic film normally attached to the opening of boxes of tissues have been replaced by paper “We have been aware of customers’ feedback that it is troublesome to tear the film off the empty boxes because they need to separate trash,” Takase said that allows a user to push and fold at ease making it easier especially for the elderly with weaker grips to discard the box they come in a thin paper box that fits through the slot of a normal mailbox eliminating the need for extra packing just for shipping The designs on the packages of kitchen paper towels tissues and masks are meant to deliver the message that protecting forests leads to protecting our own future Takase said Oji aims to tell consumers about its initiatives on “forest recycling” — the sustainable and circular management of forests — and its contribution to issues related to climate change and preservation of biodiversity through the Nepi Eco products “We have a major goal of achieving net-zero carbon in 2050,” she said She expressed Oji’s determination to address climate change by cutting down on the use of fossil resources and curbing emissions “We will continue to promote the use of environmentally friendly materials such as paper for our products and packaging,” Takase said Oji Holdings is a member of the Sustainable Japan Network, a group of companies that cooperate with this newspaper in spreading information about sustainability in Japan. You can also be part of the network; for more details, please visit ​​https://sustainable.japantimes.com/sjnetwork-en In a time of both misinformation and too much information quality journalism is more crucial than ever.By subscribing Your subscription plan doesn't allow commenting. To learn more see our FAQ Sponsored contents planned and edited by JT Media Enterprise Division with his hand hanging by a thread of skin from his arm Robert Ruffer cringed as he heard a medic utter the word "amputation." Don't say that,"  Ruffer recalled telling the medic It was that mindset that would see him through the ordeal that day Six months after accidentally nearly cutting off his hand with a table saw  is back to work cutting hair at top speed He celebrated Thanksgiving with  a new outlook on life — grateful for things he had overlooked before:  his hand  the army of friends he never realized he had and the ability to enjoy the little and big things in life and building furniture out of recycled wood It's just a miracle," a tearful and choked-up Ruffer said while working in a Grosse Pointe salon this week cutting and coloring the hair of loyal clients he has known for decades who lives in Fairhaven and works alongside his wife said he owes a huge debt of gratitude to many especially the team of doctors from the University of  Michigan who saved his hand and his livelihood This is a big deal," Ruffer said while fighting tears "They gave me a tremendous amount to be grateful for I just want the world to know that I'm really grateful 'I knew I was in trouble'Ruffer vividly remembers the day of the accident He was cutting scrap wood  using a compound miter saw when when  the sleeve of his Carhartt shirt got caught in the saw's 12-inch blade I saw that the blade was in my arm," said Ruffer who turned off the saw and held his dangling arm up with his other arm Ruffer estimated that he had about six to eight minutes of consciousness left He ran to the door of his house and started screaming for his 20-year-old son who took the black leather Gucci belt that his son was wearing and used it as a tourniquet 'Pull on this thing like your life depends on it' .. The only time I actually felt pain is when we tied the tourniquet on." Ruffer noted that he was lucky his son was home that day The college student had flunked a math course and stayed home to reregister for it "He's my guardian angel now," Ruffer said of his son An ambulance arrived at Ruffer's home and transported him to a local hospital what's your name?" he recalled an ER doctor asking him what's your birthday?" "Get me to U-of-M." do you know who the president is?" "Get me to U-of-M." He was airlifted by helicopter to Ann Arbor where the chopper landed on the roof of the prestigious university hospital yellow block M painted on the hospital roof and being wheeled into the operating room right from the chopper Hanging by a threadOrthopedic surgeon Kagan Ozer who leads U-M's  new hand transplant program headed the surgical team that saved Ruffer's hand in a nearly four-hour operation He noted that there was a small window of opportunity — four to six hours after the traumatic event — to save Ruffer's hand Ozer compared the surgery to constructing a house: which  means that you put the bones together first Then you need to bring in the plumbing to bring in the blood flow which involves connecting arteries and veins Then you need to connect the nerves to bring in the electricity "We were lucky that he did not have any compromise in terms of his blood flow," Ozer said And he can cut hair like Edward Scissorhands as he demonstrated while clipping a client's hair at top speed last week "Robert is one of these unique individuals who has incredible motivation," Ozer said the accident proved to be both physically and emotionally grueling was learning to accept the outpouring of support he has received  Clients brought his family dinner nonstop They called to check on him and mailed him cards  One client exercised his horse because he couldn't while another sent a cleaning crew over to tidy up his house "The good Lord heard so many people praying for me I literally was not aware that I was that well liked," Ruffer said through tears Ruffer quickly lightened up the conversation "I'm convinced now that I have proof that I'm not a jerk." What happens to child soldiers once war ends two brutal civil wars have produced a generation of traumatised young men A project started by a former teen soldier that offers CBT and cash transfers to violent street criminals is transforming lives Anthony Kamara likes to use the analogy of a butterfly emerging from its chrysalis but useful in reaching through the years of compounded shame that form the exterior skin of Liberia’s lost and marginalised young men “I tell the men that their true colours are there a former street drug user and a facilitator for a radical Liberian mental health nonprofit Network for Empowerment and Programme Initiatives (Nepi) A child amid Liberia’s two brutal civil wars (1989-97 and 1999-2003) he saw his elder brothers drift from being conscripted child combatants to drug users and began using drugs himself as a teenager He ended up estranged from his family and living on the streets in Monrovia “In my years [on the streets] I was manhandled and brutalised,” Kamara recalls “I hid from my family because I was ashamed about what I had become.” Liberia is a case study in population-level trauma The nation’s 14 years of civil wars began in 1989 when guerilla warlord Charles Taylor attempted to overthrow president Samuel Doe’s administration recruiting thousands of child soldiers and setting in train serial massacres rebel group Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy waged war against Taylor’s government resulting in the deaths of 300,000 Liberians with both sides recruiting child soldiers as young as seven 500,000 were internally displaced and one in five was living in extreme poverty This set the stage for a rise in violent crime and a drug epidemic that began with heroin and crack cocaine and in recent years has segued into kush – a synthetic cannabinoid known in the UK as spice Liberia’s homicide rate is three times the global average (6.1 per 100,000 people) Nepi targets Liberia’s most marginalised men – street dwellers chronic drug users: traumatised ex-combatants and their sons with anger issues and little to live for – in an effort to ripple benefits across Liberia’s population 68% of whom are living on less than $1.90 (£1.60) a day was conscripted as a teenage soldier by war criminal Charles Taylor’s rebel force the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) Injured in the war and hospitalised for two years Borh found an answer to his own tightly knotted anger in a trauma healing programme run by the Lutherian church By the end of the Second Liberian Civil War (1999-2003) Borh was struck by how deeply scarred his country was families struggling and countless angry young men that took the best of the church-based trauma programmes adding secular and psychosocial components Nepi offers a tailored combination of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and cash transfers to young people who are at the highest risk for violent behaviour in a programme called Sustainable Transformation of Youth in Liberia (Styl) Styl has since helped tens of thousands of young men in Liberia with studies on the project finding that men receiving therapy with cash were half as likely as a control group to engage in antisocial behaviours with beneficial impacts concentrated in the highest-risk men Borh explains that the programme begins with eight weeks of CBT and group therapy with components that teach members how to regulate their emotions and engage as members of civil society The tasks the men are charged with: going into a supermarket with neatly trimmed hair “We teach the men about basic bodily hygiene and how to present themselves,” Borh says “also how to interact in shops and banks and how to manage money but men who spent their youth as child soldiers can struggle to do these basic things without resorting to anger.”  Following the therapeutic and social components the Liberian students are awarded $200 (£173) seed funding to study or set up businesses when the programme concludes Funding comes from foundations including the poverty reduction-focused Rainer Arnhold Fellowship Livelihood Impact Fund and The Agency Fund Coleman was one of the programme’s first cohorts in 2010 recruited from the Monrovia suburb where he was “stealing all the time and causing [a] disturbance” he learned to control his rage by recognising that his emotions were anger and using CBT-based tools to pause when he felt triggered Coleman used the seed money to set up a grocery business and 13 years later is happily married with six children “By God’s and Nepi’s glory I am a different man,” he smiles a former soldier for the state Armed Forces of Liberia was a combatant in the brutal years of the civil wars and by 2012 was unemployed and living at a road intersection in Monrovia Liberia had no help to offer [former combatants] like me,” he says [So] I would get vexed and I had no self-esteem and this made me violent with people around me.”  I saw that who I am was different to what had happened to me Richards began to unpick the layers of compacted trauma I saw who I am and that who I am was different to what had happened to me.” Richards is now a pastor at the Welekama AME (African Methodist Episcopal) in Gbarnga a satellite city to the north-east of Monrovia He believes that what he learned on the programme remains relevant to his congregation “In countries like Liberia that have lost their way it helps to focus on discipline and how to be honest and trustworthy to others to help society to heal,” he says “Our country needs many strong young men.” Styl’s model of group therapy and cash transfers is one that has proven successful in a variety of cultures and contexts Jamison and colleagues including Christopher Blattman were the first to empirically study Styl and its impacts Having seen what Borh was achieving in Liberia they decided to launch a pilot project using the same methods in Chicago a 2022 University of Chicago study found that men enrolled in their 18-month Rapid Employment and Development Initiative course were two-thirds less likely to be arrested for a violent crime and nearly 20% less likely to be shot compared with men who weren’t taking part in the programme They will soon be launching another pilot in Colombia where armed groups and drug cartels lead to high levels of violence and murder rates are 4.5 times the global average A strength of the Styl programme is that it allows participants to buy into their futures a phenomenon called ‘future self-continuity’ Jamison explains: “If you are always focused on the next few days and having nothing to eat you get caught in a psychological poverty trap as well as a material poverty trap.”  What the combination of CBT with later funding does is to “change participants’ time preferences and allow them to think about who and where they will be in the future” Acting out the role of a model citizen in a supermarket allows students to imagine becoming that citizen Having seed money to start a business allows them to imagine a future as a successful businessperson many will reunite with their families and become better fathers Bohr is now in talks to offer the project in Sierra Leone which suffered its own decade-long civil war from 1991 to 2002 and Nigeria and is collaborating with Liberia’s ministry of health as well as its ministry of youth and sports has also come a long way since his own troubled teenage years becoming a renowned expert on the social reintegration of child soldiers advising organisations such as the United Nations resistant to applying a programme designed for young men to Liberia’s marginalised women personal exposure to violence through street sex work is a more salient issue than the risk of becoming violent “The way we see it is that we focus on the young men most at risk and society benefits from that,” he says of the project’s specific scalability Jamison points out that with rootless and addicted young men at risk of fomenting governments such as Liberia’s have a vested interest in cost-effective means of turning young men’s lives around: “That might make the governments go for what they think will work and be cost-effective but that doesn’t necessarily mean the programme is a one-size-fits-all answer” In the coming year another 1,000 fresh Styl graduates will emerge from the programme to Liberia’s streets The most successful will return as motivational speakers to inspire next year’s recruits These changed lives will benefit their loved ones their families and broader Liberian society many will reunite with their families and become better fathers.”  Graduate and facilitator Anthony Kamara no longer hides from his family in shame and this year I enrolled at university to get my degree Images: Carielle Doe (in Liberia) and Octavia Olds (in the US) Developing mental wealth is a series produced by Positive News and funded by the European Journalism Centre through the Solutions Journalism Accelerator This fund is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation But to invest in producing all the solutions journalism that the world is longing for And because we work in your interests – not those of a wealthy media mogul or corporate owner – we’re asking readers like you to get behind our team by making a regular contribution as a Positive News supporter Support the Positive News team Website: Atomic Smash to reader reflections on abundance – the uplifting new issue of Positive News magazine is a thought-provoking read to brighten your spring As part of the group’s digital innovation strategy the largest investor and developer of shopping centers in Central and Eastern Europe announces for the first time on the local market the development and implementation of its loyalty mobile application The application allows customers to use the benefits accumulated in any of the 15 shopping centers * in Romania – depending on their shopping preferences The new application, unique in the Romanian retail market but also in Europe, aims to offer customers access to benefits in the shopping centers in the group’s portfolio at local and European level. Romania is the first country in which the company launched the mobile application and in the near future SPOT will be implemented in the other 8 markets in which the company operates. The SPOT loyalty program was developed based on the results of a complex market study conducted by the company among mall customers the most important aspects are the access to personalized benefits according to their shopping needs and preferences the differentiation of rewards based on status – depending on the number of points accumulated – and a rewarding experience directly in the application “SPOT application is part of the group’s strategy to increase investments in technology where we have expertise and can bring innovations in the area of ​​shopping experiences We have undertaken to accelerate the digitization process and omnichannel initiatives which involves rethinking and repositioning the company in terms of experience offered to customers and tenants as the first market for the implementation and launch of SPOT application was a natural choice as here the pace of adoption of new technologies is faster than ever We want to continue to be the main choice for modern consumers through a series of strategically designed opportunities and benefits”   How can customers enroll in the Spot loyalty app Customers have the opportunity to use their loyalty points to activate a complex range of rewards and special prizes that can be accessed in the application they have the option to select in the application the main mall they visit frequently but also they have the possibility to use the benefits accumulated in any other NEPI Rockcastle shopping center providing social media features and to analyse how our website is used.