Reopening the office requires rethinking the daily experience and setting clear protocols for how everything in the office operates while managing the health and safety risks of our employees. How the returning to work is managed will be critical for employee health and well-being but also for the confidence in their employer and landlord, according to the latest data from CBRE.

Due to the recent growth of interest in online shopping driven by the coronavirus pandemic, a leading logistics operator in Poland has decided to expand its warehouse footprint by leasing 15,000 sqm of temporary space in Prologis Park Piotrków Trybunalski I. Savills assisted one of e-commerce leaders in Poland in the leasing process.

As the first coronavirus cases were registered in Hungary at the beginning of March, the effect of the epidemic on first-quarter figures might have been smaller. The epidemic may affect the construction industry in two ways. Projects that have already started may stop or may continue at a slower pace and it may hold back the value of projects entering construction phase.  Results show that there was a massive decline in the value of completed projects already in Q1 2020. The value of the Activity Completion Indicator of the EBI Construction Activity Report in the domestic construction industry decreased by 29% due to the epidemic, and several hundred projects were delayed.

Czech industrial developer Contera has obtained a syndicated loan from ČSOB and Komerční banka in the total amount of €155 million. Most of the funds will be committed to refinancing the developer’s portfolio of warehouses and production halls in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, which are owned and operated by Contera together with US investment company TPG Capital. The remainder of the loan is allocated to the development of new projects.

Hillwood has started the development of a logistics park in Piekary Śląskie, near Bytom in Poland’s Upper Silesia region. Hillwood Piekary Śląskie, comprising more than 42,000 sqm, will be ready for use in Q4 2020. This is Hillwood’s third project in the Silesian province since the beginning of the year.

Starting May 2020, Kraków’s Podium Park office building is managed by specialists from Globalworth. The in-house property management model, which allows operating closer to tenants, is one of the most important elements of the strategy of the investor.

Property Forum’s next virtual event, CEE Valuation & Investment Forum 2020, will cover the most burning topics of property investment and valuation. Leading international experts will share their own experiences and best practices related to managing the unprecedented market situation that COVID-19 has created.

Penta Real Estate has obtained a zoning decision which means that it can apply for a building permit for its Masaryk station mixed-use reconstruction project in the centre of Prague. Based on the design of Zaha Hadid Architects, the project has been in the works for over a decade. Completion is planned for 2022-2025.

Shopping centres in Poland were reopened on 4 May. This is an indication that there’s light at the end of the tunnel for landlords and tenants, but the ongoing pandemic will have an enormous impact on the entire retail industry. Sylwia Wiszowata-Łazarz and Joanna Kłusek from Cushman & Wakefield talked about the current market situation, changing consumer habits and what actions to take to ensure a safe return of shoppers to brick-and-mortar stores.

Gross demand in Q1 2020 was almost 950,000 sqm with new deals and expansions dominating the market. New space delivered in the first quarter of 2020 totalled 440,000 sqm. JLL summarised the situation on the Polish industrial market at the end of Q1 2020.