Fears that offices will no longer be needed in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak are overblown, and investors should keep an eye out for pricing opportunities, according to Savills Investment Management.

Iulius Company is starting the construction works for Palas Campus in Iași, an investment upwards of €120 million. This will be one of the largest office buildings in Romania in terms of its total area, adding up to more than 60,000 sqm leasable space and it will consolidate the city centre as a destination that supports the evolution of local entrepreneurship and creative industries.

The implementation of the office projects under construction is in full swing in Kraków. The construction of new buildings will depend, however, on the demand for offices from the business services sector, which is its main recipient on the Kraków market, according to consultancy company Walter Herz.

Globalworth's portfolio in Romania has been consolidated by the prolongation and extension of the lease contracts for a period of 3 - 11 years with key partners such as Adecco, Cegedim, Clinicile și Laboratoarele Sfânta Maria, Mazars and a major bank.

Starting July 2020, Rondo Business Park, an office complex located in Kraków, will be managed by Globalworth. A percentage of over 80% of the company's Polish portfolio is represented by in-house managed assets. 

Pandemic-related economic and social restrictions have given rise to multiple questions on the office market. Will the demand for office space remain unabated? Will office projects underway be delivered on time? Cresa has reviewed pre-let levels and the progress of office projects currently under construction in Warsaw.

Hungarian development and construction company Market Építő Zrt. has completed its new headquarters in Budapest. The 5,500 sqm four-story office building was designed and built by Market and its subsidiaries. The office building, named Market 6.0, refers to the group's sixth headquarters and is located in Budapest’s Óbuda district, in the immediate vicinity of the previous headquarters.

Colliers expects that a fair amount of market activity in 2020 will come from lease renegotiations and renewals as opposed to new and pre-lease transactions and that we might record more sub-leases being offered if companies need to downsize. Tenant covenants will receive additional scrutiny by landlords, banks and investors in order to limit risk to a sustainable income. Colliers launched the ExCEEding Borders Office Snapshot for the 14 CEE capital cities and summarised the key Q1 2020 market results with year on year comparison.

The PZU Group has leased 47,000 sqm of office, retail, service and warehouse space, as well as 325 parking spaces in Generation Park Y – Skanska’s highest office building in CEE located in Warsaw. With this lease, the building is now 98.5 percent occupied. The PZU Group will move its headquarters to the new office in Q2 2022. This is the largest lease agreement in the history of the office market in Poland and the history of the Skanska Group in the world.

Israeli-owned real estate developer Hagag Development Europe has received the urban planning certificate for the restoration of Știrbei Palace in Bucharest which will be converted into a modern office building.