Spanish developer Hercesa has obtained a loan worth 33 million lei (€6.6 million) from Libra Internet Bank for the construction of a new residential project in western Bucharest. 

Facebook parent company Meta has paid £149 million to end a lease contract for the 1 Triton Square office building owned by British Land in London. The move shows that big tech companies are looking to lease less office space as employees adopt the hybrid work system, FT.com reports.

Mindspace unveiled the results of a recent survey of employees from industries worldwide regarding shifting sentiment towards the workplace. Their latest report reveals that 9 out of 10 employees consider wellbeing facilities and offerings to be critical when choosing a workplace, and 82% expect support from their employers in achieving a work-life balance.

A global property company, with a strong presence in the Polish logistics market, has acquired from Panattoni three fully commercialized industrial parks, totalling 135,000 sqm for approximately €100 million.

The industrial sector will remain on the radar of investors due to the ongoing nearshoring trend but development should also accelerate across other commercial sector once interest rates start to fall, concluded speakers of the investment trends panel of CEE Property Forum 2023, held in Vienna.

Savills has prepared an overview of how the real estate market should react to the changing age structure of the global population. This study carried out as part of Savills Impacts programme, is about the prediction of residential supply and related services and hybrid working models. The fact that many Western countries are some of the fastest ‘ageing’ in the world isn’t news. In 10 years' time, the largest proportion of the Czech Republic’s population will be between 50 and 59 years old. Other countries in CEE are in a similar position. In Germany, Austria, Italy or France, the dominant age group will be 60 to 69. Meanwhile, at the other end of the scale, many African nations are seeing increases in their youthful populations. 

UBM Development Czechia has completed the rough construction of the Timber Prague project of wooden apartment buildings, which are being built as part of the Arcus City residential complex in Prague-Reporyje. These modern chamber buildings made of solid CLT panels express the first multi-storey apartment buildings made of wood in the modern history of the capital city. They comprise a total of 62 units with layouts from 1 + kk to 4 + kk, ranging in size from 39 sqm to 110 sqm and each of them has its own cellar, parking space in the underground garages and a balcony, terrace or front garden. To date, a quarter of the apartments have been sold. The project is being built to BREEAM Excellent standard.

Global real estate - one of the largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions - should become net-zero in less than three decades. With as much as 80% of the predicted building stock for 2050 already in existence today, this best illustrates the scale of the challenge. Meanwhile, the commercial real estate market has not, as yet, officially acknowledged either the costs of necessary property upgrades or the costs of delaying or not taking any action. At the same time, due to a lack of market standards, benchmarks and a system of data collection, valuers can hardly factor ESG risks in property valuations. This impasse has significantly increased the risk of a carbon bubble, says Cushman & Wakefield. 

Almost 60 hectares of land plots suitable for the development of real estate projects were transacted in the Bucharest – Ilfov region in the H2 2022 – H1 2023 period, with former industrial platforms accounting for some of the largest transactions, according to a report by Cushman & Wakefield Echinox.

The first phase of the Le Jardin residential park has secured a BREEAM 'Very Good' certification. This is the first such project to get this type of certification in Hungary.