NEPI Rockcastle provided an initial update concerning the impact of the COVID-19 related government measures on its activities in an announcement dated 17 March 2020. Since that date, the authorities in Romania, Serbia and Croatia have increased the safety measures to contain the spreading of COVID-19. New measures include temporarily limiting the operations of some of its shopping centres’ tenants.

CBRE has facilitated the lease of approximately 15,500 sqm of office space to the expanding Prague team of ExxonMobil in Luxembourg Plaza in Prague 3. The 1,200 employees who currently work in two different office buildings will move into the new headquarters in Q1 2022.

Hillwood is developing two Class A city warehouses in Warsaw’s Targówek district with a total area of ​​almost 50,000 sqm. Completion of the first hall with an area of ​​24,600 sqm is scheduled for Q3 2020.

In 2019, Poznań saw its total office stock expand by nearly 18% to 564,800 sqm following the delivery of ten office projects totalling 85,700 sqm. Cushman & Wakefield has summarised last year on Poznań’s office market.

CTP further expanded its portfolio in Romania and in the vicinity of Bucharest where it owns three properties: CTPark Bucharest West, CTPark Bucharest and CTPark Bucharest Chitila. The most recent 57,000 sqm purchase, Equest Logistic Park, is located near the capital, on the A1, at km 13. It was acquired for approximately €30 million from Forum Serdika, in the beginning of March 2020.

NEPI Rockcastle is donating €150,000 to the International Red Cross Organization aimed for supporting the efforts of preventing the spread of COVID-19. The amount of money will be distributed according to the current medical needs and will be used for the purchase of disinfectant substances or items vital in slowing the spread of the virus. Public awareness campaigns will also be supported.

Panattoni has started building a distribution centre for a manufacturer of sportswear and accessories. The BTS facility with an area of over 67 000 sqm is under construction in Czeladź, Upper Silesia. Completion of phase one is planned for H1 2021.

Although the coronavirus pandemic has the world (and the property sector) facing an unprecedented challenge, one positive consequence seems to be certain – it is going to accelerate the adaptation of technology. Property Forum asked three people in proptech to share their thoughts on how COVID-19 is going to impact the way we work and connect to each other.

The Bucharest economy stands as one of the most insulated service centres in Europe to the negative fallout related to the COVID-19 outbreak. This is largely due to Bucharest’s heavy reliance on IT&C activities as well as scientific and professional services, on par with European capitals like Dublin, Paris and London.  That said, Romania’s high integration in global value chains means that it will face significant headwinds given negative developments in the global economy.

MLP Group has purchased a land property located in Widzew district in the Southeastern part of Łódź where it plans to construct MLP Łódź, an 80,000 sqm modern logistics and distribution centre.