2021 in the residential market in Poland was marked by a deepening imbalance between supply and demand. Developers put up for sale 11,000 fewer units than they sold. Buyers considered flats mainly as a safe capital investment. Had it not been for the pandemic, the slowdown that awaits the Polish residential market in 2022 would have arrived much earlier.

Hunter REIM sold to Centerscape two retail parks located in Warsaw and Inowroclaw, offering ca. 4,550 square meters of leasable space, both assets having the Netto chain as the grocery anchor operator. Avison Young represented the seller in the transaction.

U.S. logistics giant GXO lands at CTPark Bor. This large unit in the size of 60,000 sqm will lift the Czech/German border market hotspot hub to full capacity. It will boost the development demand at CTP satellite sites in Aš and Cheb too, the company reports.

Thirteen years after the fire in 2008, the large Industrial Palace in Prague has begun renovation. Its reconstruction began on 1 February this year and should be completed within three years. According to the Czech Press Agency, the cost of the reconstruction is expected to be CZK 2.64 billion. The reconstruction will be carried out by a consortium led by Metrostav, Prague's City Hall announced.

Real estate consultancy Colliers has appointed Oana Stamatin as ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) Chief Officer in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). 

Duna House has released its monthly transaction estimate, showing that there were 10,815 residential property transactions in Hungary in January 2022. Although this corresponds to a 3.3% decline over the same month of 2021, it is in the same league as the first months of the years between 2017 and 2019.

COVID-19 has significantly changed what clients are looking for across different real estate sectors, including facility management. Libor Holík, CEO of B+N Czech Republic and Slovakia talked to Property Forum about current challenges and opportunities in the facility management business.

Českomoravská Nemovitostní (ČMN) has appointed Karel Bor as CEO and plans to strengthen its position on the market in the nearest future, the company announced on its website.

A new development division of the Lekvi Group plans to build fifteen new retail parks in the region within five years. So far, this group of investors from the countries of the former Soviet Union has focused on the sale of apartments but now sees potential in retail parks in the Czech and Slovak Republics. The planned projects should cost CZK 1 billion, E15 reports.

Panattoni revealed that in 2021 there was a huge increase in the space it leased on the Polish market. Over the year, the developer signed approx. 300 lease agreements for more than 3.2 million sqm of space – 1 million sqm more than the previous year. Panattoni’s facilities were chosen by such companies as Zalando, LPP, Media Expert, Carrefour, DHL, DB Schenker, InPost, Solaris and Action. In total, the developer completed 1.85 million sqm of BREEAM certified space last year, while another 2.8 million sqm is under construction.