The market is transforming fundamentally but offices are here to stay, while traditional occupiers appreciate the flexibility option for workspaces, concluded speakers of the office investments panel of CEE Property Forum 2023, held in Vienna.

At the country level, the share of retail parks in modern retail stock is constantly growing, at the end of H1 2023 claiming 39% of the market, according to a CBRE report. 

AFI Europe has completed the construction of its first retail park developed in Romania, located in the city center of Arad, with its inauguration scheduled for November 1. 

Panattoni has begun the construction of a tailor-made manufacturing facility for Maxcess - a provider of products and services for automated web-handling applications for converting lines. The project will allow for the relocation of the existing facility and more than double the employment. It will also serve as the main facility for the company's European operations.

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Austrian developers and construction companies show a good example of how to realise truly sustainable buildings. Green residential projects are not a goal, but practice in Austria, says Rudolf Riedl, Managing Director of SÜBA Hungary who also shared his opinion on the shortcomings of the Hungarian real estate market.

According to the preliminary results of the parliamentary elections held in Poland on Sunday, after 2 terms and 8 years of independent rule, Prawo i Spawiedliwość (Law and Justice) will have to hand over power to the opposition. This is certainly good news for foreign investors, who may have feared worsening chaos in law and taxation and, in the longer term, Poland's potential exit from the structures of the European Union.

The office vacancy rate in Budapest increased to 13.2%, representing a 0.6 pps growth quarter-on-quarter and a 2.2 pps increase year-on-year. Two smaller buildings have been handed over while the demand has increased by 14% compared to the previous quarter, the Budapest Research Forum (BRF) reports.

Property developer Finep has sold a house with rental apartments in Prague 9 to Mint's residential fund. The former Veltex building in Poděbradská Street is expected to bring mainly small apartments to the rental housing market within about two years. According to the daily e15.cz, the transaction is worth almost CZK 1 billion (around €40 million). 

Duda Development has sold a Silesian retail park portfolio to a private investor. Avison Young represented the purchaser. The price has not been disclosed.