There is currently 343 000 sqm of office space in development in Prague, 144 000 sqm of which is slated for completion this year. This is the strongest development pipeline since 2014. That being said, the first quarter did not launch the major increase in new office stock expected in the wake of the historically weakest year of 2016. Completion of the majority of new space is planned for the second half of this year.

Futureal has sold its Sziget Center shopping mall in Hungary to OTP Property Investment Fund as part of the deal that also saw the purchase of the Skypark office building. After a successful repositioning, the 23,600 sqm center located on the outskirts of Budapest has managed to lure high-profile tenants and tripled its lease income over the last two and a half years.

Central European industrial markets have a bright future ahead of them but regulatory issues and labour shortage can pose a threat to further growth in many countries. The speakers of the first ever Prague Property Summit analysed the potential of the market from a European perspective.

The Váci Road office corridor, the central business district (CBD) and the inner quarters of Pest are the most significant office locations in Budapest. The Budapest office of CBRE has synchronized its office market database with the metro lines and stations to highlight the current status of the city’s office market.

Business Link and Skanska will co-create an innovative ecosystem for start-up companies, small and medium enterprises, and companies from the business services sector in CEE. The developer has invested in Business Link – the largest network of co-working space and private offices in Poland. Because of Business Link’s planned international expansion, the company will become one of the biggest networks of its kind in the world. 

Smart buildings and smart infrastructure are essential parts of a liveable, sustainable, future-proof and truly smart city, something that population centres all over the world aspire to be. Things have started going in the right direction but the Hungarian capital still has a long way to go before it can establish itself as a smart city. The vision of Budapest as smart city, officially approved by the City Council, was presented at the latest Green Talk, organised by RICS and the Hungary Green Building Council (HuGBC).

Colliers International has extended the management contract with Triuva Kapitalverwaltungsgesellschaft mbH for another 2 years. Colliers will continue to manage the portfolio of 11 office properties with a total area of approximately 75,000 sqm. All buildings are located in Warsaw.

CTP signed several new leases in Hungary in the first quarter of 2017 which means that construction is now underway in four different locations in the Transdanubia region. The real estate developer, present in Hungary since early 2016, now manages an industrial property portfolio of about 300,000 sqm. 

Berlin-based developer Bischoff & Compagnons is to start a new office development, named Alphagon, in the South Buda area of Budapest. CBRE has been commissioned with the leasing of the property.

The office market in Warsaw maintains momentum with demand for office space reaching 194,000 sqm in Q1 2017. JLL summarized Q1 2017 on the office market in Warsaw.