Total demand on the Budapest industrial market amounted to 88,230 sqm in Q4 2019, indicating a 16% decrease on a yearly basis. Leasing activity was driven by renewals (86%), followed by expansion (12.8%) and new leases (2.6%). The Budapest Research Forum published its quarterly industrial market analysis.

Panattoni Europe continues its expansion in north-eastern Poland. The developer has leased out 100 per cent of space at Panattoni Park Białystok I and announced the development of the second distribution centre in the heart of Podlasie. Additional 35,000 sqm will be delivered this year at Panattoni Park Białystok II.

The International Facility Management Association (IFMA) and its alliance partner Facility Management Netherlands (FMN) have announced that in 2020 World Workplace Europe will again be held at the Kromhouthal in Amsterdam, 18 to 20 March. Property Forum is proud to support the event as media partner.

Developers operating on the six largest Polish cities sold a total of 17,600 units in the fourth quarter of 2019, which is 9% more than in the previous quarter. This increased annual sales to 65,400 units, which is nearly 1% better than last year. It was also the second-best result in the history of the primary housing market in Poland, according to JLL’s report.

The Expoziției Area attracted almost 15% of the total demand for office spaces registered last year in Bucharest, thus entering the top 5 areas preferred by companies to locate their offices, at a very short distance from Center - West, the most dynamic area in the last 3-4 years, according to JLL:

Developer and operator SES Spar European Shopping Centers has announced that the customer opening of Slovenia’s most modern shopping centre, located in the northern district of Šiška in Ljubljana, is scheduled to take place on 19 March 2020.

Optima Investment Ltd., which manages the assets of the Central Bank of Hungary’s Pallas Athené Foundation, has sold the majority stake of its Budapest development project, located on the Váci Road office corridor, to internationally-based Chi Fu Investment Group.

Hungarian developer Infogroup has acquired the 33 ha Heliport Industrial Park in Kecskemét. The property offers nearly 40,000 square meters of industrial and logistics space, making this the largest acquisition in the company’s history. The transaction was made with the co-investment of the Kecskemét Development Fund.

During their New Year’s Reception held at the British Ambassador’s Residence in Bucharest, RICS announced the new Advisory Board for Romania, which will be responsible for implementing RICS’ strategic goals locally and will work closely with key stakeholders in Romania.

Sustainability is top of the agenda this year at Davos as governments and businesses around the world are grappling with ways to combat climate change. Of the four global issues the World Economic Forum has said “clearly stand out as urgent and important” at the annual meeting in Switzerland, the first two are how to address environmental challenges harming our ecology and economy, and figuring out how to transform industries to achieve more sustainable business models. The built environment has a huge role to play in developing and implementing solutions, with technology, investment and robust governance central to success, according to the City Momentum Index report from JLL.