Commercial property investment amounted to €168 million in H1 2023, roughly half compared to last year, with industrial and logistics accounting for the biggest share of the transaction volumes. 

UniCredit Romania has inked a deal with Globalworth for the extension of its lease agreement in the UniCredit HQ building by 2030. The bank has been occupying the building with a leasable area of 17,400 sqm since its opening in 2012. 

Hillwood Polska has signed credit agreements with Bank Pekao S.A. for the construction of three warehouse projects: in Częstochowa, near Rawicz, and in Łazy near Warsaw, with a combined value exceeding €89 million.

According to AXI Immo, more challenging economic situation and a ‘wait and see’ approach adopted by market players have been the key factors affecting the Polish industrial real estate sector in H1 2023. Gross take-up amounted to 2.24 million sq ]m (-39% y/y) between January and June. A soft patch was also visible on the supply side. Although a relatively large amount of space was added to the market in H1 2023 (2.6 million sqm, marking a 9% y/y increase) and total stock increased to 30.6 million sq \m, there was only 2.13 million sqm under construction as at the end of June 2023 – 50% less compared to a year earlier. The vacancy rate climbed to 6.7% at the end of Q2, marking a 3.3 p.p. increase on Q2 2022.

Law firms are among the most active office tenants. They have for years shown a strong preference for central HQ locations, trophy offices and a high standard of finish, reveals the latest research from Savills.

The Obchodná office building, which is part of the new NordCity zone in Žilina, a town in the north-west of Slovakia about 200 km from Bratislava, has been approved and put into operation. Among its largest tenants are international companies Siemens, BeLenka, Ipesoft and GoodRequest. Behind the construction of the entire zone is the developer Reinoo whose owner is entrepreneur Milan Dubec. 

In the first half of 2023, a total of 24,600 sqm of new office space was delivered to the Brno office market. Ostrava saw the delivery of no new office space, but the one that is under construction should be completed by the end of the year. The vacancy rate in the Brno office market in H1 2023 increased to 14.6% and in the Ostrava office market up to 7.8%, reports the Regional Research Forum (RRF).

Few multi-unit residential construction works started in Hungary, a little above HUF 50 billion, mainly a few larger projects. And although Q2 brought a rise in Activity-Start, the value of the indicator was far below the quarterly numbers of 2017-2019 and 2021-2022, according to the latest EBI Construction Activity Report.

A key to a successful property development is a responsible real estate development strategy which also takes into account accessibility, self-sustainability and biodiversity. Zsolt Hintenberger MRICS, Managing Partner at Realiscon talked to Property Forum about the different aspects of ESG compliance, going deeper than the usual buzzwords.

PSN has launched a new project, Ahoj Vanguard, in Československého exilu Street, near the former Microna factory, which is currently being converted into Vanguard Prague industrial housing with 150 lofts. They will be connected not only by an underground tunnel but also by a common background with a spa and wellness area with a swimming pool. The new construction of Ahoj Vanguard with 94 apartments is characterised by colours and a large amount of greenery. The new PSN project is scheduled for completion at the end of 2024.