According to the latest report by Colliers International, during the first half of 2016, some 12,000 square metres of modern office space were completed in Prague. An additional 20,300 square metres is expected to follow during the second half, which will lead to 2016 being the “leanest” year in terms of development completions since 1992, with a total of only 32,300 square metres of completed offices.

At the end of H1 2016, Poland’s office stock totalled 8.7 million sqm. Warsaw remains the largest office market with Kraków, Wrocław and Tricity becoming major regional office hubs. Nearly 572,000 sqm of modern office space was delivered onto the Polish market in H1 2016, setting a new semi-annual record. Cushman & Wakefield its newest report, Property Times: Office Market In A Growth Phase.

Neinver, a Spanish developer, investor, property and fund manager, has entered into an agreement with Carrefour Polska to manage the Metropolitan Outlet in Bydgoszcz. The outlet centre, scheduled to open in spring 2018 will be the first and only retail centre of this kind in the Kujawsko-Pomorskie province.

The United Kingdom’s decision to leave the European Union dominated property news cycles over the summer. After the initial shock things have somewhat cooled down but it is still uncertain to what extent will London loose its position as the capital of the European real estate market. The first figures show that although investors have started acting a bit more cautiously they are just as hungry for yields as they have been before the referendum took place. Benjamin Perez-Ellischewitz, Head of Capital Markets at JLL Hungary has talked to us about the potential effects of Brexit on European property markets. 

International real estate developer HB Reavis has signed a preliminary sale agreement to sell two of its buildings, situated in Warsaw, to Savills Investment Management on behalf of a Global Pension Fund client. In one of the largest transactions of the year in Poland and also in Central and Eastern Europe amounting to €186 million, Savills Investment Management has acquired buildings A and B of the Gdanski Business Center in Warsaw, totalling 48,000 sqm.

The Dominikański office building, developed in Wrocław by Skanska Property Poland, has been recognized with LEED certification's highest level - Platinum. This is the second office complex in Lower Silesia's capital to “go platinum” in compliance with the most demanding office certification system in Poland. The first complex - Green Towers – was also developed by Skanska. The certification process for Dominikański was supported by Go4Energy. The building is owned by a fund managed by Union Investment Real Estate GmbH based in Hamburg.

Nokia Networks has leased an office area of over 7,000 sqm in the West Link building, which is being developed by Echo Investment on Na Ostatnim Groszu Street in Wrocław. OmniOffice has joined the group of tenants of the Q22 office building in Warsaw by leasing an area of over 2,000 sqm on the second floor.

ING Bank, pbb Deutsche Pfandbriefbank and PKO Bank Polski have jointly underwritten and funded a €210 million term loan facility for Magnolia Park Shopping Centre. The refinancing of the mall, which is owned by real estate funds managed by Blackstone and managed by Multi Poland, is one of the largest real estate financing deals to take place in Poland this year. 

HB Reavis has successfully leased 5,000 sqm of office space to five different companies at Gdanski Business Center and Postepu 14 located in the city fringe of Warsaw. Groupe SEB Polska and Joseph’s Bistro & Wine restaurant are new clients, whereas KPMG, WebInterpret and Fab Tax & Accountancy by Bilans SA extended their existing leasing agreements.

Tchibo Prague has held the topping out ceremony of the first its distribution centre in Panattoni Park Cheb, which will serve online customers from the CEE region and the southern part of Germany. Currently, the total rentable area has reached 39,000 sqm which will be shortly extended to 73,000 sqm. After completion, the premises will become the second largest logistics hall ever constructed in the territory of the Czech Republic after the distribution centre of Amazon in Dobrovíz. The Tchibo distribution centre shall start its operation by the end of this year. The second phase of the project will be completed in the middle of next year.