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. 

High demand and a lack of new projects have caused Prague's office vacancy rate to fall. It currently stands at 7.26%. The volume of new construction and refurbishments accounted for approximately 143,600 sqm at the end of Q2 2023, and the total market size was 3.85 million sqm. Benchmark rental prices did not change from the previous quarter; however, the price of office fit-out (equipping them with necessary features) is increasing due to ESG and modern standards. Such outlays can easily exceed €1,000 per sqm, according to a survey conducted by Colliers. 

Austrian company CA Immo has concluded a long-term lease agreement for approx. 8,000 sqm of office space in Millennium Tower I, situated in the Millennium City Center, a large complex just off the river Danube. Cushman & Wakefield and Newmark VLK acted as agents and advisors on the deal.

Skanska has obtained the WELL Core & Shell certification at the Gold level for Building C of the High5ive office complex located in Kraków. This is the first project in the city to be awarded such certification at the highest score.

E.ON Business Services Cluj, part of the German group E.ON, will relocate to a  new office space in Record Park, the mixed-use project developed by Speedwell, and owned by AYA Properties Fund. The fit out works for the new office have been completed and the company is expected to start operations in the new space soon.