The Property Management Department of Cushman & Wakefield Echinox has expanded its service line by creating the first Training Academy in Romania, called Drawing Business Value Academy, dedicated to tenants in commercial buildings and office buildings occupiers, in partnership with DBV Management & Training, a training and consulting company. The aim of the Academy is to increase the tenants' performance in shopping centres by improving the quality of service and customer relationship and the experience of office buildings occupiers through the development of a community

The record-breaking era of the Polish retail sector is over now. The market is shaped by limited supply, increased competition, the growth of e-commerce and the aftereffects of the ban on Sunday trading. As pointed out by experts at BNP Paribas Real Estate Poland, in H1 2018 developers operating on the Polish market completed and delivered approx. 191 000 sqm of modern retail space, out of which 110 000 sqm appeared on the market between April and June. As expected, further 300 000 sqm of new supply will be delivered by the end of the year.

Krakow retains the crown as Poland’s largest regional office market as it saw its office stock rise by 17% in the past year to 1.16 million sqm, says real estate advisory firm Cresa in its latest report.

Jana Vlková has recently been promoted to the position of Director of Business Development at Colliers International in Prague. Jana will focus on identifying and securing all types of business opportunities that Colliers Czech can offer to its clients. These services, to mention a few, will include and cover supporting Office Agency, Workplace Consultancy, Project Management and Design and Fit Out works services. Jana will continue to work with her existing and future clients by providing turnkey solutions and services at the highest professional level.

Tatian Diaconu, the CEO of Ceetrus Romania (known as Immochan Romania until June 2018) has been promoted to International Development Leader of Ceetrus International in Lille, France. Raluca Crisan, the former marketing manager of Immochan has been named as the new CEO of Ceetrus Romania.

Retailers and shopping centre operators are starting to adapt their business models to the changing consumer behaviour. For now, it seems that retailers that are able to create a true omnichannel approach are outperforming their competitors. Walter Wolfler, Senior Director, Head of Retail Austria & CEE at CBRE talked to Property Forum about the future of retail.

The number of employees in Class A and B office buildings in Bucharest has reached about 253,000 at the end of the first semester of 2018, a slight increase compared to the end of 2017. In H1 2018, the number of employees working in companies with headquarters in modern office buildings in the capital increased by 3,000, according to estimates of Cushman & Wakefield Echinox. Considering the office projects whose delivery is announced for the second half of the year, the number of employees in modern office buildings in Bucharest could rise to 270,000 by the end of 2018.

In line with its development strategy for AccorHotels branded hotels in Eastern Europe, in particular on the very promising Romanian market, Orbis signed 3 new agreements in recent weeks for a total of 370 hotel rooms.

Local real estate developer Global Vision, controlled by Romanian investor Sorin Preda, has started a €200 million industrial development project on a 100 ha land it acquired last year near Constanta’s port.

At the end of H1 2018, there was more than 2.13 million sqm of warehouse and industrial space under construction across Poland with Central Poland accounting for more than one-fourth of the development pipeline, according to Cresa. Despite the healthy supply, the vacancy rate will remain below 5% this year and is likely to edge down to approximately 4% next year on account of a base effect and the expected robust occupier demand.