The rise of e-commerce and changing customer preferences have created a new phenomenon: Dark Stores; that is, online retailers delivering goods within 15 minutes of ordering. During the pandemic and the closure of brick-and-mortar stores, e-commerce reached its peak. Some e-shops saw their sales grow by several tens of percents last year. In connection with this, demand for smaller, centrally located e-shop locations and warehouses with 150 to 500 sqm of space began to grow, especially in larger cities with sufficiently dense housing.

Romania’s modern industrial and logistics facilities stock reached 5.6 million sqm at the end of 2021, which represents the third largest industrial and logistics market among 15 of the biggest economies in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). 

Colliers has taken over the management of two office buildings owned by Stena Fastigheter – phase I of Centrum Południe in Wrocław and phase III of High5ive in Kraków. Following Spark B in Warsaw, these are further investments belonging to one of Sweden's largest private real estate companies to be managed by Colliers.

The annualized rate of new demand for offices in Bucharest is comparable to the value recorded in 2019, even though it is about a third below the record volume of 2017, according to research by real estate consultancy Colliers.

Colliers has entered into an affiliate agreement in the EMEA region with the leading real estate services company in Serbia, West Properties.

The total stock of SBU (Small Business Units) / LML (Last Mile Logistics) space in the CEE-15 countries accounts for over 3 million sqm, but the development of this market is not evenly spread in this region. The largest amount of space is located in Poland (circa about 2 million sqm), reveals a new report by Colliers.

The listing value of commercial real estate properties such as shopping malls, office buildings and logistics centres could grow in the short and medium-term in Romania. The increase will be recorded in a volatile context generated by rising building material and utility prices, increasing inflation, as well as the border conflict and the effects of the pandemic, according to Colliers.

AFI Europe Romania has secured the LEED Platinum precertification for AFI Tech Park 2, the second phase of the AFI Tech Park office development located in Bucharest. The developer worked with Colliers on the certification process.

PRS (private rented sector) investments, which have been popular in Western Europe for years, are increasingly developing in Poland. In 2021, residential rental investments accounted for €0.6 billion of the capital invested in the country. In response to the needs of this rapidly growing sector, Colliers, as one of the first companies in the market, launched its PRS investment management and commercialization service. The first project of this kind in Colliers’ property management portfolio is one of the newest investments of Atrium European Real Estate in Kraków's Krowodrza district.

The Prague office market in Q1 2022 experienced a further increase in vacancy, across the entire city. However, gross take-up recorded a year-on-year increase of 44% and thus returned to pre-pandemic levels. The increase in prices throughout the city is still felt especially in construction projects, mainly due to rising costs for materials and construction work, reports the Czech branch of Colliers in their regular survey.