The search for a new office is usually a long process that starts with defining our requirements and restrictions. We then move onto comparing and analysing various offers and options and finally select the best one. Signing the lease and finding subcontractors to set the framework for our workplace design, design the space, deliver our furniture and carry out the fit-out work are important points on the agenda. However, we must not forget a number of other crucial details. Experts from the Office Agency Department at BNP Paribas Real Estate summarise what to keep in mind once the lease is signed.

JLL has advised the seller on the disposal of the K6 office building located in Budapest. The building was acquired by a Hong Kong private investment fund partnering with Wigan Acquisitions.

Over the next six months, Prologis will bring to market nine modern, sustainable buildings in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. The developer currently has nine logistics facilities under construction in CEE totalling around 200,000 square meters of space.

On 6 November 2018, Property Technology Forum Europe 2018, a conference and networking event for the proptech industry and real estate professionals from all over Europe will be held in Warsaw. Nearly 200 guests will come together in the Polish capital to discuss the future of the real estate industry and to explore the latest innovations in the profession. The mission of the event is to create a common ground for true collaboration between proptech startups, property professionals and occupiers.

Despite geopolitical uncertainty and a slowing in the economic cycle, investment in the global property market has seen a significant rise of 18% year-on-year to a new record high of $1.8 trillion (2017: $1.5 trillion), according to the report of Cushman & Wakefield, which examines global commercial real estate investment activity, assessing cities by their success at attracting capital.

Companies in Bucharest that operate in modern office buildings have monthly occupancy costs ranging between €175 and €500 per employee, according to an analysis by Cushman & Wakefield Echinox.

There is room for online and conventional channel retail to continue co-existing side by side in the short to medium term in the CEE-6 markets, according to Colliers International. The solid further €71.5 billion expansion of retail sales out to 2022, 4.9% growth per annum overall, creates enough evolutionary room for multiple concepts to continue thriving. Conservative growth scenario sees e-commerce in CEE-6 expanding 8.8% per annum from a baseline of €13.1 billion to €20 billion.

Echo Investment has signed preliminary sales agreements with Resi4Rent for four projects under development in Warsaw, Wrocław and Łódź for a combined price of €78.6 million (PLN 338.7 million). The four projects - Browary Warszawskie in Warsaw, Wodna in Łódź, Rychtalska and Kępa in Wrocław – will comprise 1,200 apartments altogether.

LiNK Hradec Králové, the first of a number of planned industrial and logistics projects by LinkCity Czech Republic and Cromwell Property Group, has been completed.

The competitive advantages and strengths of the CEE region are well known to investors. But new factors have emerged that may play a central role in the medium and long-term. For example, there is a marked shift from cost efficiency to quality and knowledge-based operations across all sectors of the CEE economy. How is the tenant structure in CEE changing? Does growth in the BSS sector show any signs of slowing down? How do the legal and fiscal structures in CEE countries compare to those in Western Europe? All the answers to these and other important questions can be found in this year’s CEE Investment Report 2018: New Frontiers of Growth by Skanska, CBRE, Dentons and PwC.