JLL and LaSalle have published the latest edition of the Global Real Estate Transparency Index – GRETI. As emphasized by the authors of the report, although there is a greater emphasis on corporate social responsibility and the use of new technologies, we are currently facing the slowest rate of transparency improvement since the period directly following the Global Financial Crisis.

Real estate developer Hagag Development Europe received the building permit for H Eliade 9 Residence, its new residential project to be developed in Bucharest, Romania. Construction works are scheduled to start this August. €16 million will be invested in the new resi-scheme. Over 35% of the available units have already been contracted.

The H1 data indicate that the worst-case scenarios regarding the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Warsaw office market did not materialize. According to a report published by Cresa Poland, the second quarter witnessed a substantial volume of new supply which has now been almost fully absorbed by the market. A total of 100,000 sqm was delivered in Warsaw with an additional 700,000 sqm currently under construction.

Echo Investment has gained a loan for the construction of the MidPoint71 office building, that is being built in Wrocław on Powstańców Śląskich street. PKO Bank Polski provided the financing of the project. In accordance with the signed loan agreement, the bank granted Echo Investment €54.4 million in a construction loan, as well as a PLN 7 million VAT loan. Once the construction is finished, the construction loan will be converted to an investment loan. The total funding period ends on 30 June 2026.

Dywidag Systems International has leased 24,000 sqm of production-social space in Panattoni Park Ruda Śląska II, site for the production of Post-Tensioning Systems and Stay Cable Systems. The tenant was represented by Cresa Poland.

The modern retail stock in Romania, consisting of shopping centres, retail parks and commercial galleries with a leasable area of ​​at least 5,000 square meters, has reached 3.96 million square meters and will exceed the 4 million sqm threshold until the end of the year, according to Cushman & Wakefield Echinox.

Total office market demand reached 335,000 sqm in H1 2020 on the Warsaw office market. In fact, demand for office space in Q2 was significantly higher than in Q1. Vacancy rates across Warsaw increased slightly by 0.1 p.p., with 770,000 sqm under construction. JLL summarised the Warsaw office market in H1 2020.

Panattoni is to build an advanced hi-tech manufacturing and warehouse complex for AZZ Specialty Welding Europe, a provider of specialised welding services for customers in various business sectors, including fossil power, refining, waste-to-energy, chemical processing and nuclear power. The 12,820 sqm facility will be located in Radom. The construction project is scheduled to begin in the third quarter of 2020, while the tenant should be able to move in in March 2021.

Simultaneously with the opening of the R7 motorway section in Southern Slovakia, the Log Center R7 logistics centre project gained its building permit for its 30,000 sqm logistics hall. The project is developed by Austrian developer Go Asset.

ConvergenCE has been appointed the exclusive contract to support the owner, HB Reavis to lease the Agora Tower office building which recently opened on Budapest’s Váci Road office corridor.