ZDR

Croatia, our second largest market: income that runs well past the summer

Date: September 10, 2026

From the outside, Croatia is easy to file under Mediterranean tourism. On our books it looks rather different. It is the second largest market in the group's real estate portfolio, and it holds both our biggest retail park and our single highest-earning asset. What our schemes in Rijeka and Pula are built on is not the summer season, but the year-round spending of the people who live there.

Croatia in our portfolio, by the numbers

Tourism is a welcome bonus and it lifts summer trading sharply, but it is not what we underwrite. The investment case rests on everyday local demand. Retail parks on the edge of Croatian towns are essential infrastructure for the weekly shop, in February as much as in August.

Croatia is a consolidated, predictable market that trades all year round. Adopting the euro in 2023 took local currency risk out of the equation and made financing and cross-border transactions simpler. Fully let and paid in euros, our Croatian assets generate income 365 days a year, which makes Croatia the second largest pillar of the portfolio after the Czech Republic, where the group is based.

ZDR Investments Croatian assets
Total lettable area approx. 79,000 m²
Share of the group's total area approx. 17% (2nd largest market)
Occupancy rate 100%
Average lease length (WAULT) 4.74 years
Key locations Rijeka, Pula
Main acquisition partner MID Bau

Retail Park Rijeka: our flagship and the largest scheme in the portfolio

Rijeka is Croatia's biggest port and the natural catchment centre for more than 100,000 people. The terrain leaves no room for large-format retail inside the city, so shopping moved to the suburbs, where the regeneration of a former brownfield site created the dominant retail zone in the area.

That is where Galerija Bakar sits. Since the completion and acquisition of its second phase at the end of 2025, it has been the largest retail park ZDR Investments owns.

The scheme now offers 41,594 m² of lettable area, let to a line-up of major brands:

  • Harvey Norman (14,400 m²): the Australian furniture and electronics retailer, and the largest tenant in the park.
  • SPAR (approx. 6,000 m²): the grocery anchor that drives daily footfall.

That mix draws shoppers from Rijeka itself and from the wider region around it.

The second phase added nearly 11,000 m² of new space and brought IKEA to Rijeka as an anchor, alongside the drugstore chain dm, sportswear retailer Sport Vision and fashion brands New Yorker and Sinsay.

Rijeka, Croatia

Retail Park Pula: the efficiency champion and the group's top earner

Rijeka wins on size, Retail Park Pula wins on returns. It has been the strongest-performing property in the ZDR Investments portfolio for years.

Local demand underpins the cash flow all year, and the summer wave of visitors heading to Istria, Croatia's main holiday peninsula, multiplies it. The result is the highest rent roll of any asset we own, more than CZK 140 million a year. Two factors explain it:

  • Prime micro-location: the park sits on Pula's main arterial road, with excellent visibility and direct access from residential districts as well as tourist routes.
  • A balanced tenant mix: the scheme is anchored by international furniture retailer Harvey Norman (7,400 m²) and grocery chain SPAR (approx. 5,000 m²).

Thousands of residents and visitors pass the site every day on their way into the city and down to the Istrian coast.

Pula, Croatia

A proven acquisition strategy built on partners we know

The two Croatian schemes have one thing in common: we bought both directly from the Austrian developer MID Bau.

That relationship is a template for how we grow. The developer secures the permits, builds the scheme and lets it to creditworthy tenants. We step in once the park is finished, fully let and trading, and take it into management, where it produces a stable return for investors.

MID Bau is among the leading retail park developers in Croatia, Slovenia and Austria, with almost 30 years of experience in commercial property across the Alpe-Adria region.

Croatian assets deliver a stable return

The Croatian investments fit the conservative philosophy of the ZDR Investments funds exactly:

  • 100% occupancy: no vacant units, no lost rent.
  • Strong tenant covenants: international brands (Harvey Norman, SPAR, IKEA) alongside dominant local operators.
  • Geographic diversification: income earned outside the Czech Republic and Slovakia strengthens the portfolio as a whole.

Dominant catchment locations, full occupancy and rents collected in euros give the portfolio a solid buffer against macroeconomic swings. Croatian assets do exactly what we bought them to do: anchor long-term value and deliver a predictable return through the cycle.

IKEA Pula, Croatia

Croatia is central to our expansion abroad, but it is not the whole story. Read about why we invest in Austria and what our growth there is built on.

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