The footfall in Czech regional shopping centres remained almost unchanged despite the previous years of the pandemic and all the lockdowns. The turnover and the average basket increased, and the vacancy is stable. However, due to the 18-week lockdown, the year 2021 fell behind 2019 by about 15%. The biggest concern now comes from the inflation and spending cuts reported by CBRE in its regular Shopping Centre Index analysis together with the results of two surveys on customer behaviour and expected plans of retailers.

Romanian construction firm Synergy Construct will open in September a new retail park in northern Bucharest, next to highway A3, following an investment of €15 million. 

European developer and owner of semi-industrial and logistics properties VGP has acquired a new tenant for its logistics park VGP Park Kladno in the Kladno East industrial zone. It is the Danish company Kvadrat, which focuses on interior design and is entering the domestic market, VGP announced.

New international hotel chains will appear in Budapest for the first time. Budget hotels will remain competitive. Slow recovery of conference tourism gives some hope to the hospitality industry in Hungary, Csaba Tóth, Director, Head of Hotels at CBRE Hungary says to Property Forum.

The office market in Bucharest expanded by 73,500 sqm to a total stock of 3.27 million sqm at the end of the first quarter of 2022, while leasing activity expanded by 44% compared to the first quarter of 2021, according to CBRE. 

Romania’s modern retail stock reached 4.02 million sqm at the end of the first quarter, with the new supply expanding by 19,500 sqm, according to a report by real estate consultancy CBRE. 

CBRE South-Eastern Europe (CBRE SEE), a direct subsidiary of CBRE Group, has announced the establishment of a new local office in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Premium rents in Prague to rise and interesting incentives from landlords are expected. There is also a growing interest in office rents in Brno, which is responding to the growth in rents over the past two years. Premium rents also grew slightly in Ostrava. Leasing activity in Bratislava is keeping pace with new construction and, together with Vienna, is expecting a recovery. In Warsaw, upward pressure on premium rents will grow, but there is likely to be an easing of existing incentives for tenants. Budapest is gradually recovering from the covid crisis. Rents will remain stable this year, reports CBRE.

CBRE Group announced a decision to discontinue most of its business in Russia in response to the horrific attack on Ukraine. The company has begun the process of exiting its office in Moscow, which provides leasing, investment, property management and valuation services, and terminating two existing affiliate relationships in the country. Consistent with its contractual obligations, CBRE will continue to manage facilities and provide other essential services for existing multi-national clients that are operating in Russia.

WDP, the industrial and logistics projects developer, has appointed Gijs Klomp as the new Business Development Manager in Romania.