UX (user experience) has in recent years been a buzzword in discussions about attracting retail customers. However, nothing puts consumers’ emotions and well-being to the test more than the pre-Christmas frenzy and visits to shopping centres. According to Cushman & Wakefield’s retail customer experience survey, 42% of Polish respondents say that their shopping experience is impacted by sound and music, with 41% and 38% citing the interior design and lighting in a shopping centre respectively. Over 40% of the surveyed respondents say that they are irritated by crowds and noise when shopping. These are important insights for property landlords and managers responsible for creating optimal conditions that will drive positive shopping experiences.

Real estate advisory firms and the Polish Investment and Trade Agency (PAIH) expect Poland to relocate substantial manufacturing operations from Asia. Many nearshoring projects have already been launched, but such processes are very time-consuming and require complex preparations.

Romanian developer Iulius is closer to kick off the construction of a mixed-use project in Cluj-Napoca after relocating a manufacturing facility in another part of the city. The Carbochim plan was relocated and upgraded following an investment of €5 million.

Office real estate in Poland, as in the entire CEE region, is trying to forge a new identity for itself in the new times of hybrid work and lower demand. Participants in the panel on the future of offices at Future of Real Estate 2023 discussed how this process is taking place. The event was organised by Property Forum and RICS in Warsaw.

In 2024, PSN will begin a two-year reconstruction of the famous functionalist building in the centre of Pardubice. The first republican Grand Hotel, which served as a shopping centre for over 20 years, will now be transformed into a modern shopping centre with full preservation of the original legacy of the architect Gočár. The renovation is expected to cost €12.331 million, PSN estimates.

Panattoni has launched the construction of City Logistics Kraków III, the latest 25,000 sqm development on the city limits. Walraven, an international producer of installation fixings, is to occupy almost 4,500 sqm.

In the face of the housing crisis, the possibility of repurposing existing commercial buildings for residential use is receiving increasing attention. The question is: Can this approach provide a solution to the housing shortage in appropriate locations, and can it be profitable for developers? According to experts at the Urban Land Institute (ULI), changing trends in the office, retail, and hotel markets are making commercial adaptive reuse not just an option, but often a necessity.

Pan-European commercial property collective, M Core, has officially launched into the Romanian market following the acquisition of 25 retail parks from Mitiska REIM in a deal worth  €219 million.

The completion of Garbe Green Park Piešťany in Slovakia is close as Garbe has secured a third loan for the finalisation. The loan from Oberbank is in the volume of €14.6 million.

Property Forum talked to Carolien Gehrels, Global Director of Energy Transition at Arcadis, on the occasion of the RICS World Built Environment Forum – Europe event, where she was one of the keynote speakers.