Retailers and landlords have to be aware that they’re always part of a local community, says Dr. Angelus Bernreuther, Head of Investor Relationship Management at Kaufland. He talked to Property Forum about his outlook for the retail market in CEE and also shared details of the company’s ESG strategy and expansion plans.

CBRE Czech Republic has appointed Jakub Stanislav as Head of Investment Properties. Jakub Stanislav will oversee a team of four senior consultants and will be responsible for developing long-term strategies as well as building and developing client relationships. As part of his mandate, he will coordinate the purchase and sale of a wide range of commercial properties, from offices to logistics complexes and shopping centres to hotels.

Stefan de Goeij is joining the Cushman & Wakefield ESG team as a Partner. The sustainability and property management professional will lead the CEE team as Head of Sustainability & ESG as of July 2023.

Urbanity Campus Tachov, located west of Plzeň, became the first industrial complex in the Czech Republic to receive an international BREEAM Communities certification. It has now completed the three-year certification process with the final rating of “Excellent”. The construction of the second phase of the project is now launching, which will offer 55,000 sqm of leasable space.

Around 650,000 sqm of industrial and logistics spaces are under development in Romania, which once completed will be added to the stock of 6.3 million sqm that was operational at the end of 2022, according to a Colliers report.

The demand for office development or refurbishment projects remains high as more companies are looking for quality workspaces, according to CBRE data.

Real estate decision-making and people-centric strategies are becoming more integrated, according to CBRE’s 2023 European Occupier Survey. For the first time, CBRE carried out the same survey for global companies having an operation in CEE to point out major differences in workplace culture across the various geographies.

Hungarian property developer and investor Indotek Group currently owns real estate in Hungary and eight foreign countries and is actively screening opportunities in five others. The portfolio consists of office, retail, hotel and industrial properties. Property Forum asked Krisztián Hornok, Managing Director of International Transactions and Asset Management about the reasons for the large-scale expansion and ways of handling risks in this region.

The relocation of production facilities from far-away locations, such as Asia, is generating additional demand for industrial and logistics projects in CEE-based markets, with Romania being among the biggest beneficiaries, according to a Cushman & Wakefield report. 

Alexandros Diamantis, Managing Director of Medcity spoke with Property Forum about the company’s investments in Romania that reached €30 million to date and the new cities that have potential for new healthcare real estate developments.