New demand for office spaces in Bucharest soared 47% to 104,000 sqm year-on-year in 2021, while total demand volumes gained 23% to 263,000 sqm, according to real estate consultancy Colliers. 

The first phase of the Corvin Innovation Campus, with almost 17,200 sqm of office space, has reached its highest point. Developed by Futureal and located in the immediate vicinity of Corvin Promenade in Budapest, the first phase of the 30,000 sqm complex is expected to be completed by the end of 2022, while the second phase is scheduled for completion in Q4 2023.

Commercial real estate investments in Romania totalled €916 million in 2021, up only 0.2% compared to the previous year, marked by several transactions valued at more than €50 million in the office, retail and industrial segments, according to real estate consultancy Cushman & Wakefield Echinox. 

WDP, the industrial and logistics projects developer, has appointed Gijs Klomp as the new Business Development Manager in Romania.  

The construction of three warehouses with a total area of more than 90,000 sqm, the largest of which will have a floor space of almost 50,000 sqm, has started at the MLP Poznań West logistics centre. They are scheduled to be completed in the third quarter of 2022. The role of the general contractor has been entrusted to W.P.I.P.

Panattoni is to provide 133,000 sqm for LPP, the biggest fashion group in the CEE region. As much as 69,000 sqm of this will be built in Panattoni Park Rzeszów North, the construction of which is to complete at the end of Q3 2022. The new investment will be capable of processing up to 100,000 orders per day and storing more than 7 million assorted items. It will support online sales in markets such as Germany, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia and Ukraine. Panattoni Park Rzeszów North will eventually comprise two buildings with a total area of 83,500 sqm. 

Stage Capital, a European secondaries’ investor, acquired a portfolio of shopping centres in Poland from Pradera Central European Fund. The acquisition was on behalf of Stage Capital Laurel II, Stage Capital’s second fund, and backed from funds managed by Glendower Capital.

The high demand generated by the retail, transport and logistics sectors saw P3 Logistic Parks lease around 113,500 sqm of logistics and office spaces in Romania during 2021. 

Beverages maker Heineken Romania will relocate its HQ to a new building under development in northern Bucharest. The company will occupy 3,200 sqm, similar to the surface it has leased in the S-Park project, owned by Immofinanz, according to profit.ro. 

Żabka Group is now the largest chain of autonomous stores in Europe after launching 25 AI-powered stores called Żabka Nano. The concept enables quick shopping without checkout clerks, queues, or cash to sell products precisely matched to location and customer demographics. The stores operate in several formats such as standalone container-based vending machines, traditional brick-and-mortar and store-within-a-store points of sale; each leveraging AI-powered computer vision technology created through close cooperation with American technology company AiFi.