Without a doubt, the pandemic has brought many changes for the retail market but many developers see this as a time for trailblazers. Christoph Andexlinger, Chief Operations Officer at SES Spar European Shopping Centers discussed with Property Forum the effects the pandemic had on the company’s operations and shared some details about future plans.

In 2020, we saw a significant shift in the perception of warehouses and the role they play in the economy. Investors now see them as highly valuable assets. Tomasz Lubowiecki, President of the Board at Polish logistics developer 7R talked to Property Forum about prosperity on the warehouse market, last mile logistics and difficulties around nearshoring.

Polish developer Cavatina Holding, which has been active in the regional cities of Poland, has recently announced plans to go public. Rafał Malarz, CEO of the company talked to Property Forum about investing in large mixed-use projects, the future of the PRS sector in Poland, possible changes in the retail and office markets and shared some details about the upcoming IPO.

The real estate industry has been sitting on valuable data for long, now it’s taking advantage of it. Alexander Rafajlovič, who joined CA Immo as Head of Market Research & Data Analytics in January, talked to Property Forum about the importance of data on the real estate investment market and shared his expectations for the year ahead.

The pandemic brings a substantial evolution rather than a catalyst for a revolution. It accelerates ongoing changes in real estate strategies that otherwise would have taken years to implement, says Arkadiusz Rudzki, Executive Vice President of Leasing & Sales at Skanska office development in CEE, who shared his thoughts on workplace trends with Property Forum.

The workplace of the future needs to prioritize health, says Darren Allen, Development Manager at Romanian office developer Genesis Property. He talked to Property Forum about the IMMUNE Building Standard, a global certification standard to certify the built environment’s level of immunity to withstand present and future health challenges.

Home office is just an effective supplement that will not replace the need for office space. Time will show that people need to meet each other and robots will replace those professions movable to a full-time home office, says Eduard Forejt, Development Director at Czech company Passerinvest Group, who talked to Property Forum about the future of office work and the company's development plans.

COVID-19 is going away very slowly, which is putting pressure on the digitization of residential sales. Solutions that enable digital signatures, online viewings and even online selling are becoming necessary tools for residential developers, says Jakub Licak, Business Development Manager at CEE-based proptech Realpad, who’s responsible for the company's international expansion in Romania and Bulgaria. He talked to Property Forum about his experiences on the Romanian market and discussed Realpad’s expansion strategy.

Travel restrictions and the inability to meet in person have caused a lot of headache for many market players but in many cases, it also provided certain types of investors with an advantage. Pavel Streblov, Business Director at Penta Real Estate talked to Property Forum about the company’s development and investment strategy and shared his expectations for the year ahead.

Office space will continue to shape the company culture and will have a great impact on the collaboration process and the dynamic of decision-making, says Tanya Kosseva-Boshova MRICS, Managing Partner of Park Lane Developments who talked to Property Forum about the company’s development plans and shared her expectations about the future of offices.