The occupancy rate in Bucharest’s hotel market was up 5% in 2023 compared to the previous year, but it remains around 10% under 2019. However, average revenue per room was up 12%, which is higher than in pre-pandemic times, according to a Cushman & Wakefield Echinox report.

Hungarian construction company Kesz Group has expanded in the Romanian residential segment and will start its first housing project in northern Bucharest. Following this move, the group will act as a construction and developer player on the local market.

Swedish property developer Skanska has developed an offer to tenants consisting of services to support them in creating sustainable workplaces and non-financial reporting.

Romanian developer One United Properties recorded a net profit of €89.6 million in 2023, up 8% year-on-year, while its turnover rose by 30% to €306.6 million over higher residential sales and rent income.

Corwin has submitted an intention to revitalize and transform the southern, larger part of the brownfield after the former industrial plant Palma on Račianská Street in Bratislava for the environmental impact assessment (EIA).

Jarosław Fiutowski, Member of the Board responsible for ESG strategy and innovation at Ghelamco Poland, talked to Property Forum about the renewable energy in office buildings,  the awareness of ESG issues among tenants and the related stance of Western investment funds.

In 2023, Central Europe’s commercial real estate market faced a notable decline in investment volumes. Dropping by 55% year on year, the region’s total investment volume accounted for €5.02 billion. Of the six countries surveyed by Cushman & Wakefield, Poland experienced the most significant downturn of 68%, with its share of the total CEE volume also dropping. The highest proportion of the capital went into the office sector, which also recorded the sharpest outward movement in terms of yields. Local and regional investors accounted for two-thirds of the investment transaction volumes, a significant increase from the previous years. Despite challenges, the market demonstrates resilience, particularly in the logistics and residential sectors, spotlighting areas of growth potential.

Experts of Cushman & Wakefield expect transactional activity on the Polish hotel market to pick up in 2024 as key performance indicators continue to improve and the pressure on investors to allocate capital builds up. Although 2023’s total investment volume on the Polish market was below that of 2019, it reached nearly €83 million - an 82% increase year-on-year. Warsaw, Vilnius and Edinburg are the only main European hotel markets that reported year-on-year growth in occupancy levels last year. At the same time, Warsaw came third for ADR growth (EUR) in 2023, with an increase of 20.1% year-on-year. 

Construction is underway for 7R's inaugural Green Saver product in Kąty Wrocławskie, Poland, aimed at reducing both CO2 emissions and operating costs. 7R Park Wrocław West II has just secured a total of PLN 87 million (€20.3 million) in financing from Bank Pekao S.A.

Industrial demand has shifted from logistics service providers to manufacturing companies. CBRE is reporting a year-on-year increase of 22 percentage points to a 53% share of total demand in the Czech Republic.