CBRE has appointed Daniel Bienias as the new Managing Director of the CEE region. He will take over this role from Andreas Ridder who has been successfully building CBRE’s presence in the region for the last 20 years. Andreas will remain in his position as Managing Director, CBRE Austria.

Immofinanz has significantly expanded its retail portfolio in the 2022 financial year. As a result of acquisitions and completions, the portfolio has grown from 111 to 169 locations in ten European countries over the course of the year, with a carrying amount of approximately €2.3 billion (excluding S Immo). Rentable space increased by nearly 30% to approximately 1.36 million sqm.

The concentration of population in rural areas, lower construction standards and less service-driven economy contribute to the divergence between the CEE region and Western European states when it comes to energy consumption structure, reveals Colliers in its recent report.

According to the results of the survey conducted by Colliers among consumers from Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, respondents indicated that they would spend less or the same amount of money on food and gifts (50% and 74%, respectively) when compared to the pre-pandemic year 2019. Thanks to high inflation, the money will not stretch quite as far as in previous years. The survey also showed an increased awareness of the problem of food waste - reducing the amount of groceries bought for this reason was declared by Hungarians (24%), Poles (18%) and Romanians (16%).

Immofinanz is acquiring 17,305,012 shares in S Immo AG from its core shareholder, CPI Property Group, thus obtaining a controlling stake in S Immo of 50% plus one share. The purchase price amounts to €337.5 million or €19.5 per S Immo share. The transaction will be financed through a long-term credit facility provided to Immofinanz by CPIPG. The share purchase agreement was signed on 19 December 2022. The closing of the transaction will take place before the end of 2022. Consequently, Immofinanz will fully consolidate S Immo in the 2022 annual financial statements.

Around 130,000 sqm of new modern offices could be delivered this year, with a total of roughly 360,000 sqm possible for the 2022-2024 period, though the 2024 calendar could be postponed, according to real estate consultancy Colliers. 

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is supporting the development of the secondary market for green commercial real estate in CEE with an equity investment of up to €50 million, in partnership with Adventum's Penta real estate fund. The partnership will acquire commercial real-estate assets, which will then undergo upgrades to improve their resource efficiency.

In its latest study on the CEE hotel market, hotel real estate expert Christie & Co sheds light on how the capital cities of Prague, Bratislava and Budapest developed during the Covid-19 pandemic and which of the three cities emerged the strongest from the crisis.

The EECFA 2022 Winter Construction Forecast Report has been released and yet another downward revision characterizes the forecast for both Southeast Europe and Eastern Europe. Southeast Europe could see shrinkage on the horizon. This, however, comes after a great period of construction between 2016 and 2021, so the market is foreseen to come down from a peak level. In this respect, the 3% decline until 2024 is no drama, in EECFA’s view. The drama is in East Europe where the peak was reached in 2018 and the market was around 10% below that peak level even before the Ukraine war began. Since then, EECFA has paused issuing forecasts in Ukraine and a status report has been prepared. Without Ukraine, the region is expected to reach its bottom in 2023.

The Czech Republic is among the top ten manufacturing destinations worldwide and has the third lowest risk profile. In a ranking of countries with the best conditions for the manufacturing sector, Czechia stands in eighth place and remains at the top of the list of countries whose manufacturing sector is thriving. Cushman & Wakefield reports.