ESG considerations play an increasingly important role in investment, financing and location decisions across the real estate industry. Four Colliers experts talked to Property Forum to discuss the role of sustainability in the post-COVID-19 world.

Managed by Colliers and owned by AMASI Grundstücksgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG., the Warsaw office building Prosta Office Centre has been awarded a BREEAM certificate at Very Good level. The rating applies to both the Building Efficiency (Part 1) and the Management Efficiency (Part 2) parts of the certificate.

Although the Czech Republic spent Q4 in a state of emergency, with borders being more closed more often than open towards the year’s end, the Czech real estate investment market finished on less than record-breaking results but, considering the challenging year, it was far from being bad, according to Colliers International’s latest investment market report.

Property investment volumes for the CEE region totalled €10.4 billion in 2020, 24% below 2019 levels. Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary all saw year-over-year declines in volumes. Romania, Slovakia and Bulgaria all saw increases. By comparison, EMEA  volumes are estimated to be down by ca. 27% YoY but Colliers’ latest reports indicates a strong rebound in 2021. Investor appetite remains strong for 2021 for the CEE region but will continue to be challenged by available product and the varying impact of COVID on certain sectors.

Globally, there is set to be a 50% surge in investment into commercial real estate in the second half of the year, predicts Colliers International in its new Global Capital Markets 2021 Investor Outlook paper. In EMEA, the momentum continues in the industrial and logistics and living sectors which are less dependent on economic growth. Investors are also particularly interested in core office stock, albeit selectively, with some 32 per cent of respondents looking to invest in the sector.

2020 is expected to be a year of recovery, but many uncertainties remain, like those related to the vaccines’ ability to return everyday life back to normal or to potential jitters about the monetary policy at the major central banks’, which would have deep ramifications globally, Colliers International consultants predict.

The Industrial Agency of Colliers International Czech Republic completed the signature of a 15,688 sqm lease agreement for a German multinational engineering and technology company for industrial premises at CTPark Bor.

The 172 million-strong consumer market of the CEE-17 region  should continue to deliver better growth rates and returns than more developed markets in retail and other sectors according to a new report released by Colliers International

CBRE Global Investors in collaboration with general supplier Demaco have handed over the new premises in Nýřany to their client Faurecia represented by the industrial agency of Colliers International Czech Republic. Faurecia Seating Plzeň opened its plant in this location in 2013 and earlier this year, and the automotive supplier agreed on an expansion within the existing location. The new premises will be used for manufacturing automotive seating for BMW, Opel, Volkswagen and other brands. The site can also offer space for another expansion.

The first 3 quarters of 2020 across the CEE-6 have seen a 37.5% decrease (year-on-year) in overall office investment volumes. With positive news of vaccines due for deployment early in the new year, offices volumes are expected to rebound in 2021 according to a new report by Colliers International.