Allianz Real Estate has opened a new office in Vienna and appointed a new director to help strengthen the company’s presence across the region. Thomas Villadsen was named Director of Austria and Central & Eastern Europe (CEE).

Łódź is busy readying itself for an influx of new companies. The city is investing in its road and transport infrastructure as well as revitalizing some of the city's quarters. As a result, Łódź is attracting more investors.These include companies from the rapidly expanding business services sector which are fuelling the expansion of Łódź's office market. New office clusters are being developed throughout the city. In 2018, the city will gain another 45,000 sqm of modern space. However, the business services sector is not the only sector that is powering the city’s economy, according to JLL.

Galeria Mazovia, a retail asset located in Płock, Poland and owned by the CBRE European Shopping Centre Fund (ESCF), has obtained a BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Assessment Method) rating of ‘Excellent’ in tests conducted in February 2018.

Corinthia Hotels is set to expand its five-star hotel portfolio with the opening of a new luxury property in Bucharest, Romania. Located in the heart of the capital, the former Grand Hotel du Boulevard will open its doors again in December 2019, to coincide with Romania’s National Day.

The Central Bank of Hungary (MNB) and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors relaunched the questionnaire-based survey research on Budapest’s commercial real estate market, with the review period of H2 2017. Over the preceding two years the typical rent for commercial properties observed for most property types has increased by more than 15 percent until the end of the second half of 2017. Prime yields for the office market and shopping centres approached the historical minimum observed in 2007 with 10-25 basis points. Most of the survey respondents expect an increase in demand in both the investment and the tenant markets for commercial properties in the next 6 months, however, with regards the development activity, the majority of respondents foresee an unchanged level or a drop in demand for several types of property.

Landlords and tenants have become more educated in recent years. Landlords know better what to request from PM providers and tenants know what they should expect in a modern office building. Mariana Stamate, Associate Director, Head of Property Management at JLL Romania provided an overview of the property management business in Romania.

Hungarian entrepreneur Sándor Demján has died at the age of 74 on 26 March, Gránit Pólus, of which he was the Founder and Chairman, announced.

Alesonor, a Greek-held property development company, plans to invest €100 million in an energy-efficient residential project in the northern part of Bucharest.

Bistrita Retail Park will be inaugurated in May 2018, Element Development, the park’s announced. The list of tenants for the nearly 8,000 sqm retail park include, among others, Carrefour Market, JYSK, Decathlon and Top Shop.

A new Class A office building in downtown Budapest was inaugurated on this week. The building under Markó Street 9, originally used as an electrical transformer house, has now received a new identity. The 2,630 sqm floor area of the five-storey building – two of which come with a loft – is tailored primarily to meet requirements of creative workshops, start-up companies and other undertaking taking an up-to-date approach in general.