According to data from Colliers, a trend called shell & core is gaining momentum in the Czech Republic. This is a strategy of constructing and building out industrial buildings to the stage of providing basic structures and infrastructure.

Prague is the only city in the CEE region to boast a prime high street, a shopping street with only the most prestigious global brands, according to Colliers. This location is Pařížská (Paris) Street, where currently 46 out of 48 available retail units are occupied.

Romanian developer Genesis Property has purchased a 30,000 sqm land plot from Stizo Invest, for an undisclosed sum, in a transaction brokered by Colliers.

Colliers announced a change in the Managing Director position in Slovakia. Richard Urvay, Colliers’ current Managing Director in Slovakia is departing the business by the end of April to take up a client-side role. Tewfik Sabongui, current Managing Partner in the Czech Republic, will expand his responsibilities to include being Managing Director of Slovakia.

Park Avenue Tower in Tirana has become the first Albanian office project to secure BREEAM Design Stage certification with an Excellent rating, a level in alignment with European standards for commercial investments. The process of certification was conducted by experts from Colliers Poland with support from the Colliers Albania team.

A recent Colliers survey, based on an analysis of responses from more than 500 Czech employees across a range of industries, has revealed that over 40% of employees consider telecommuting to be a barrier to their career progression.

Around 38% of industrial rental demand came from Bucharest in 2023, down from 48% the previous year, according to Colliers data.

Higher borrowing costs and the price gap between buyers' and sellers' expectations are some of the reasons why transaction volumes are significantly below the 10-year average level of ca. €10 billion. This is according to a commercial real estate investment volumes survey by Colliers presented at a February meeting of Czech and Slovak investors and other financial experts.

Romania’s retail stock is set to expand by around 90,000 sqm in 2024, of which more than half will be based in Pitești-based Argeș Mall. However, the development pipeline is strong for the 2025-2028 period, with a few large and dominant shopping centres expected to add several hundred thousands of leasable space to the local market, according to Colliers data.

Although office leasing opportunities are already very limited in Prague, the good news is that Colliers' survey has reported rather stable rental prices throughout the last year.