At the end of 2018, modern office stock in Poland’s eight biggest cities (Krakow, Wrocław, Tricity, Katowice, Poznań, Łódź, Szczecin and Lublin) stood at more than 4.9 million sqm (+12% y/y). Krakow, Wrocław and Tricity topped the league table for total office stock. The Wrocław office market was the second regional city after Krakow to see its volume of office space exceed one million sqm. Cushman & Wakefield has summarized 2018 on Poland’s regional office markets.

Prologis announced the acquisition of 2.4 hectares in the highly sought-after Prague logistics market. The site is next to the D1 highway, the Czech Republic’s main arterial route.

Hong Kong will retain its title as the world’s most expensive office market despite rents being forecast to decrease in 2019, according to Knight Frank’s latest Global Outlook Report. Knight Frank's chief economist believes that there is a compelling global case for continued rental growth across the global cities.

Cushman & Wakefield in collaboration with Hodges Ward & Elliott represented Mornington Capital, an international hotel investment fund manager in the sale of Prague’s iconic Don Giovanni Hotel in Prague. The deal was signed on 20 February with the transaction price undisclosed. The new owner is a leading family-owned fund from Scandinavia. Czech-based Czech Inn Hotels remains the hotel’s operator.

Panattoni Europe has engaged in cooperation with Sense Monitoring, the supplier of smart automation and control systems for flat roof surfaces. Their first joint project will be a facility for a leading logistics provider, currently under construction a short distance from Warsaw. The roof surface in excess of 40,000 sqm will be fitted with the Sense S-One system. It will assist facility management in terms of roof structure integrity and help reduce maintenance costs.

It’s no surprise that expansion of the European logistics real estate market continued in 2018, with another strong year for occupier demand, lowest vacancy rates and long anticipated rent growth began to materialize. At the start of 2019 concerns increased around capital market volatility and potential impact to global GDP due to US-China trade tensions and Brexit. Even though the logistics real estate market ended 2018 on a strong note, some increased concerns at the start of the year raise the inevitable question: what can we expect in 2019? Prologis looked at the top trends influencing the market this year.

The Heweliusza 18 office building has been given a valid occupancy permit. Tenants will start to move into the building from spring.

DLA Piper has launched a new "proptech" practice for the real estate and construction sector and new technologies. The firm's Polish proptech team is led by Poland Co-Managing Partner Jacek Gizinski, Head of Real Estate, and Ewa Kurowska-Tober, Head of Intellectual Property and New Technologies.

Amsterdam will be the epicentre of facility management in Europe for three days. From 20 to 22 March, the Dutch capital city will set the stage for World Workplace Europe meets Facility for Future. The event is owned by IFMA, the International Facility Management Association and FMN, the Dutch professional association for the facility sector. It is the perfect opportunity for European Facility Managers to network internationally and to fully immerse themselves in the most important trends shaping Facility Management today and tomorrow.

Start-ups, venture capital investors, property developers and investors, asset managers, agents, advisors, valuers, tenants, property and facility managers from Hungary, CEE and beyond are coming together at Budapest PropTech Forum 2019 to share their vision for the future and to learn about the next phase of our profession.