Poland's office market in Q1 2019 saw office supply growing, vacancy rates dropping comparing to the last year, and demand predominantly being driven by IT, services and manufacturing. Advisory firm JLL summarised the situation on the Polish office market at the end of Q1 2019.

The first building of the Green Heart complex in Belgrade has been officially opened. Nordeus, independent mobile gaming company based in Belgrade, chose GTC’s office centre to create their new studio. To accommodate a team of 170 people, the creator of competitive games leased 6,000 sqm across seven floors with three additional underground levels for parking.

The vacancy rate on Prague’s office market decreased to 4.3%, down 80 basis points in comparison with the revised results of Q4 2018. The Prague Research Forum announced the office market figures for the first quarter of 2019.

Total demand for offices in Warsaw during Q1 2019 was more than 140,000 sqm. Approx. 750,000 sqm of space is under construction. Tenant activity is expected to grow, and the market is waiting for spectacular projects to be finalized. JLL summarised the Warsaw office market in Q1 2019.

The Bucharest office closed Q1 2019 with decent numbers: a gross take-up of 105,000 sqm, out of which the net take-up was 29,000 sqm, and 93,000 sqm of deliveries. Data from Colliers International Romania show that the demand came mostly from IT&C companies, despite the tight labour market.

Following the recent takeover of the Sugarmaker Palace, UBM Development is preparing another large project, namely the Astrid Garden multifunctional complex, consisting of two parts – Astrid Offices and Astrid Residences. In the first stage, a five-storey office building will be constructed, followed by a residential complex of about 110 units the sale of which will be launched in the third quarter of 2020. The architectural form was designed by Bogle Architects, emphasising not only the modern look, lightness and airiness, but also the sensitive setting in the typical character of Holešovice.

Total demand in the first quarter of 2019 reached 79,980 sqm on Budapest’s office market, representing a 12.2% decrease year-on-year. New leases accounted for 45% of the total leasing activity, according to BRF’s latest figures.

CBRE has taken over the management of the NEPI Rockcastle office portfolio in Bucharest, totalling 70,580 square meters. This is the first time when NEPI Rockcastle outsources the management of the properties. CBRE Romania now manages 770,000 sqm of offices and retail assets.

The increased interest of global corporations in coworking spaces was a notable trend that impacted on the office markets of the four largest capital cities in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) in 2018. The total flexible office stock of Budapest, Moscow, Prague and Warsaw stands at 286,000 sqm, accounting for approximately 1% of the combined office market of these cities (29.9 million sqm). Demand generated by coworking operators in 2018 made up 5% of the overall office take-up in the CEE capital cities.

Spaces has leased 2,700 sqm in the mixed-use Wroclavia centre. Experts from JLL advised Spaces on the negotiation of lease terms. The developer - Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield - was represented by Knight Frank.