The share of vacant office space on Prague’s office market increased to 6.9% at the end of Q2 2018, which is in 0.7 percentage points higher than in the previous quarter. Prime headline rents in the city centre also slightly increase. The Prague Research Forum announced the office market figures for Q1 2018.

BNP Paribas Real Estate Poland represented First Property in the successful acquisition of Krakow Business Park (KBP).

Leasing activity in the Budapest office market remained strong with more than 253,000 sqm of office space leased in the first half of 2018. In total, commercial real estate agencies were involved in 173,000 sqm of office leasing transactions, from which CBRE completed the largest amount of transactions, 42,245 sqm equating to 24.4% market share in the agents market.

Focus Estate Fund has closed the transaction on the acquisition of the Galeria Awangarda shopping centre in Bartoszyce (Poland). The centre has a GLA of 6,126 sqm.

Last June, Cushman & Wakefield was appointed as an exclusive commercialisation agent for building “B” of the LIXA office complex being developed by Yareal in Warsaw’s Wola district. The first phase of the development project (buildings A and B) comprising 27,900 sqm of leasable space is expected to be delivered to the market in Q3 2020.

Prologis Europe ended the second quarter with record occupancy at 97.2 percent, notably through improved demand in its Southern markets. During the quarter, the company signed 343,000 square metres of new leases and 631,000 square metres of lease renewals to its operating and development portfolio.

The availability of workers is right now perhaps the most significant factor for companies when assessing business plans and prospects in the CEE region. Colliers International presented the extent of the problem and the most likely solutions in a new report.

The retail market is facing major challenges with e-commerce and rapidly changing consumer needs disrupting the traditional shopping centre model. Retailers that want to stay in the race are already embracing new concepts and formats. The future of retail will be one of the key topics to be discussed at the upcoming CEE Property Forum 2018 in Vienna.

International Campus and Alkyon Partners GmbH are developing an apartment building for students and young professionals in Kraków, which will be operated by International Campus under the brand "THE FIZZ". Located on the science and technology campus in the up-and-coming, centrally located Zablochie neighbourhood, the apartment building will have approximately 1,000 apartments. In addition, "THE FIZZ Krakow" will include extensive communal areas, 88 underground parking and 33 outdoor parking spaces for cars as well as approximately 970 bicycle parking spaces.

Poznań’s Galeria Malta, under a JV co-owned by Heitman and Neinver, has been sold to an unnamed new investor. At the same time, Balmain Asset Management and BSC Real Estate Advisors have been designated respectively as the new asset manager and property manager of the shopping centre, replacing Neinver.