Law firms are among the most active office tenants. They have for years shown a strong preference for central HQ locations, trophy offices and a high standard of finish, reveals the latest research from Savills.

The Obchodná office building, which is part of the new NordCity zone in Žilina, a town in the north-west of Slovakia about 200 km from Bratislava, has been approved and put into operation. Among its largest tenants are international companies Siemens, BeLenka, Ipesoft and GoodRequest. Behind the construction of the entire zone is the developer Reinoo whose owner is entrepreneur Milan Dubec. 

In the first half of 2023, a total of 24,600 sqm of new office space was delivered to the Brno office market. Ostrava saw the delivery of no new office space, but the one that is under construction should be completed by the end of the year. The vacancy rate in the Brno office market in H1 2023 increased to 14.6% and in the Ostrava office market up to 7.8%, reports the Regional Research Forum (RRF).

IT company ITIXO has signed a lease agreement for office space in the IQ Ostrava building. It has thus become the first new tenant of one of the most modern office buildings in the Czech Republic, belonging to the developer CTP. CTP is also the originator of the popular Clubco coworking centre concept, which will be available in IQ Ostrava this autumn.

The office building in the very centre of Prague, Masaryčka, which bears the personal handwriting of the world-famous architect Zaha Hadid, has been duly approved. The new building, which was built by Penta Real Estate, is now being occupied by its first tenants.

Anna Szymańska, Head of the Office Department at Newmark Polska, summarised how to renegotiate a lease to profit from it throughout its term, what to focus on, what not to miss, how to tackle costs and why it makes sense to engage professional advisers in renegotiations.

Office rents in Bucharest rose by up to 15.8% in the 12 months to June 2023, with the highest prices recorded in the CBD area of the city, according to a report by Cushman & Wakefield Echinox. 

Craft, the latest project by Belgian developer Ghelamco in Katowice, has been granted an occupancy permit, thereby adding 26,700 sqm of office space to the local market.

A new building, Liget Center Vitrum, will join the existing office buildings, Liget Center Classic and the iconic Auditorium. At the same time, the visual identity is being updated: it will be modern and distinctive while reflecting the history of the building complex.

According to Savills' research, the demand figures for premium office space in the first half of 2023 have started to vary significantly across Europe compared to the five-year average, Luxembourg saw a 137% increase, Oslo a 22% increase and Prague a 13% increase, while Lisbon, Dublin and Budapest saw declines of 62%, 42% and 21%. However, demand is facing a shortage of modern office buildings, especially in well-served locations. Moreover, no developer has started construction of an office building in Prague for more than 12 months. In addition, most of the projects that started with the construction earlier (e.g., Masaryčka) are already significantly occupied. On the contrary, the positive news for those interested in new offices is that up to 195,700 sqm of new office space could be built in Prague by the end of 2025, of which 143,600 sqm is already under construction, says Savills in its analysis.