The closing panel of Bratislava Property Forum 2026 highlighted a market navigating both maturity and transformation, with some segments approaching saturation while others continue to offer strong growth potential. Moderated by Martin Polák, Managing Director CEE at GARBE Industrial Real Estate, the discussion covered retail, logistics, offices, ESG, accessibility and data centres, outlining how shifting demand patterns and operational priorities are reshaping strategies across Slovakia and the wider CEE region.
From the perspective of grocery-anchored retail, Felix Faehre, Director, Real Estate & Procurement at Kaufland Slovakia, argued that retail has already passed several major stress tests. “COVID was the first real test of whether European retail could survive a sudden and dramatic shift in demand, and the answer is that the sector not only survived, it adapted,” he said. “Today we are facing new geopolitical and economic shocks, but as long as we stay relentlessly focused on our customers, design formats that work for them, and invest where the return on investment is clear, retail will remain one of the most resilient asset classes.”
Retail parks are at the heart of that resilience, according to Miroslav Tavel, Managing Partner at OPC Holding. He stressed both market saturation and new tenant demand as twin drivers. “Czechia and Slovakia are already highly saturated in terms of retail space per thousand inhabitants, which means there won’t be another hundred retail parks built, and you have to be very selective and fast,” he explained. “At the same time, new chains entering Slovakia and the region, especially discount and grocery concepts, are opening fresh opportunities, so if you can secure a strong grocery anchor on a well-connected plot, you still have a very solid development story.”
On the logistics and industrial side, Jakub Volner, Business Development Director at Panattoni Slovakia, described a more nuanced picture: overall caution but strong niche demand. “In the short and medium term, we do not see many macro factors that would strongly support broad-based growth in logistics, but certain segments like urban city hubs and data centres clearly have momentum,” he said. “The key ESG story in our sector is no longer just about certificates on the wall; it is about dramatically reducing and stabilising energy-related OPEX, and the difference between an old gas-heated warehouse and a new, well-insulated, heat-pump-powered facility with photovoltaics can be the difference between a vulnerable operation and a highly predictable one.”
The office sector, represented by Tomáš Juríček, Development Manager at Immocap, is increasingly defined by location, comfort and sustainability. “Prime locations with excellent public transport and parking, combined with high comfort and low operating costs, are what really attract tenants today,” he argued. “If you embed serious energy and water solutions, think in mixed-use terms and design for long-term efficiency, then even in a competitive market, a truly sustainable office product will outperform and stand up to any nearby competition.”
ESG’s social dimension was brought into focus by Tamás Méri, Co-Founder and Chief Business Development Officer at Access4you International, who highlighted accessibility as a core part of resilience. “Accessibility is not a niche issue; people with disabilities represent roughly sixteen percent of the population, making them the largest minority, and real estate that understands and serves their needs is inherently more adaptable and future-proof,” he said. “Serious certification schemes that go deep into technical and user-focused criteria do more than provide a nice badge – they deliver a structured mirror of where a building stands today, where it can improve, and how that translates into both financial value and long-term social impact.”
