According to Cushman & Wakefield, commercial real estate in the first three quarters of 2018 the total investment volume in six CEE countries (Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Russia) reached €8.9 billion. Investment activity in Poland exceeded the value recorded for the whole of 2017 and is expected to reach a record high of €6 billion by the year’s end. The sustainable and solid performance was recorded in Hungary and Slovakia with volumes hitting those in 2017, whereas Russia, the Czech Republic and Romania are expected to close the year at lower investment volumes, slightly below the 2017 levels.

The tight labour market is changing the way developers think. While designing an office building they think not only about who will lease space, but also what they should do to make people want to work there, says Artur Sutor, Partner and Head of Office Department at Cresa Poland.

Skanska has sold Buildings C and D of the Silesia Business Park, a four-building office complex in Katowice. The buyer is ISOC Group, a diversified real estate and infrastructure investment group, based in Manila, Philippines. This is Skanska’s first CEE office divestment transaction to a Philippine investor. With the sale of buildings C and D, the developer has now sold all four properties in the Silesia Business Park complex. Buildings A and B were divested in 2015 to a Swedish investor.

Redwood Real Estate Holding has sold its recently delivered Ecodome office building in Budapest. The name of the buyer and the transaction price has not been disclosed.

The Cedet building, located in central Warsaw, has been sold to a fund managed by GLL Real Estate Partners on behalf of Korean investors for €129.5 million. pbb Deutsche Pfandbriefbank provided a credit facility of €75.4 million to the buyer.

On 4 December 2018, Balkans Property Forum 2018, a conference and networking event for real estate professionals from all over Southeastern Europe will be held in Belgrade. Over 100 guests will come together in the Serbian capital to discuss key issues and explore the latest trends influencing the future of the real estate industry. Key speaker of the event, co-organized by Property Forum and RICS, answered questions about the local real estate market.

Futureal Group has sold its portfolio of Corvin office buildings to real estate funds managed by OTP Real Estate Investment Fund Management. The recently closed transaction involves all of the operating office buildings built as part of Corvin Promenade, as well as two currently being constructed. The total of eight Class A buildings offer a combined GLA of nearly 80,000 square meters.

The Radisson Hotel Group announced the signing of a new property to Radisson Collection in Budapest, Hungary. With 71 guest rooms and suites, a first-class fitness center, restaurant, lobby bar and a further rooftop bar the hotel will open in mid-2020.

KKCG Real Estate has bought five industrial BTS projects with 54,500 sqm of GLA in Poland. The transaction value was approx. €41 million. KKCG Real Estate is part of KKCG Group belonging to Czech investor Karel Komarek. AXI IMMO’s Investment department has advised buyer in the transaction.

Polish sportswear retailer, 50 Style, opened in October its first store in Romania, in Bucharest’s Iris Shopping Center, Titan area, on a surface of 315 sqm. Its entry on the local market confirms the real estate consultancy company’s, Colliers International Romania's, view of the Polish brands’ goal to expand in the Eastern European region, especially in Romania, where consumption has steadily increased in recent years.