The state of emergency imposed by the current pandemic has led to the almost total vacancy of office spaces, within the context of many of the employees working from home. The landlords want to lower service charge levels for this period and continue to provide the necessary services to maintain the buildings in optimal conditions, according to a report by CBRE Romania.

The topic of Property Forum’s second online panel was the impact of the coronavirus lockdown on real estate financing in CEE. After the economic outlook of Commerzbank’s Senior EM Strategist, Tatha Ghose, four expert bankers discussed the short and long-term effects of the pandemic, such as how the lockdown affects ongoing deals, what kind of recession are we looking at and how the perception of individual asset classes may change in light of the current events. According to the experts, the recovery is expected to take longer in Hungary and Poland, while the rebound may come sooner in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Saving money and time spent in traffic are the main advantages of working from home, while the main disadvantages are the lack of direct socialization with colleagues and the difficulty in separating professional from personal time, according to a survey conducted by Cushman & Wakefield Echinox.

New Work, an independent flexible office operator in Central and Eastern Europe, has secured new funding to accelerate the implementation of their 360° Workspace Solution strategy.

Belgian developer Atenor completed the construction of Aréna Business Campus Building “A” in Budapest. The project, launched in spring 2018, will comprise four Class A+ environmentally conscious office buildings on 72,000 sqm on the capital’s Hungária Boulevard. The authorization of the occupancy permit for Building “A” is currently under process with the handover of the 21,000 sqm building scheduled for June. In parallel, the construction of the second, Building ”B” is in full swing and will be completed in Q2 2021.

Developer 7R has signed an agreement for a BTS warehouse facility for Hultafors Group, a leading Swedish company that provides a number of premium brands, such as Snickers Workwear, Hultafors Tools and Solid Gear, to professional craftsmen all over the world. The project, located in Goleniów (North-Western Poland), will be the country’s first A-class automated warehouse which uses the AutoStore system.  

International investor Aurec Capital has expanded its portfolio in the private rented sector (PRS) in Poland. The transaction of the Puławska 186 project completed between Aurec Capital Poland and Matexi Polska is worth over €22 million (PLN 100 million). JLL advised the investor on the purchase of the property.

Everyday personal and professional life have both been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in a radical and unexpected way, and the general opinion is that its influence and effects will have repercussions on how people live and work, even after the medical situation will be stabilized. Cushman & Wakefield Echinox and Dentons are launching a debate over 10 issues that will impact the entire office sector in Romania, covering over 350 modern buildings with a total surface of more than 4 million square meters and approximately 400,000 employees working in some of the largest companies, emblematic for the national economy.

According to a new bill, Airbnb landlords in the Czech Republic have to share data with the administrative bodies. Also, the Czech Parliament plans to allow tenants without income due to the coronavirus restrictions not to pay rent until the end of July.

With a total volume of approximately €120 million in the first quarter, the Romanian investment market had a similar start compared with the same period in 2019, when the volume of transactions was €117.5 million. An optimistic scenario puts the total volume of investments for 2020 at €750 million, while a pessimistic one somewhere at €500 million. Crosspoint Real Estate has issued its latest market report on the Romanian real estate market’s performance.