A Europe-wide proliferation of new eating and drinking concepts is driving demand for real estate, according to new research published by Colliers International.

Colliers International Romania has been assigned to offer property management services for the first phase of the industrial park ELI Park 1, with a total area of 20,000 sqm. This is the first project built by Element Industrial, a Romanian developer of industrial and logistics spaces, and the fourth logistics park managed by Colliers. Thus, the total industrial portfolio managed by Colliers in Bucharest and in the big regional cities reaches 130,000 sqm, out of a total of over 500,000 sqm that includes office buildings as well.

After re-certification, the Metropolitan office building in Warsaw has received the BREEAM Excellent certificate. The property is managed by Colliers International.

The UK is Romania’s fourth biggest service export destination, after Germany, Italy and France, with around 8% of total, though it also generates nearly 12% of the IT service exports, underscoring the deep ties to the office market in Bucharest and other parts of the country. In case of a hard Brexit, just a modest 10% decrease in trade flows with the UK would shave around 0.1% of Romania’s GDP and bring potential pressures on good office buildings, as among companies tied to the UK economy are blue-chip tenants, according to data from Colliers International Romania.

Similarly to 2017, the Airbnb activity in Budapest showed strong growth (25% y-o-y) in overnight stay in 2018 as well, exceeding 1.8 million. This figure reached 70% increase by the end of last year since 2016, says the latest Budapest city report on Airbnb released by Colliers International and Hotelschool The Hague.

In one of the largest industrial & logistic land transactions to date in 2019, Afin Holding acquired Aries Logistic Park in Turda, located near Cluj-Napoca for an undisclosed amount. The project, only partially developed, includes almost 60 hectares of land available for further development. Colliers International was the real estate agent on this transaction whilst Moroianu & Associatii acted as legal advisor to the buyer side.

Flow East, a Czech-based developer which specialises in the high-quality renovations of premium historical buildings, has purchased the historical Dům V Templu building located in the Old Town (Staré Město) of Prague.

In Q3 2019, 66,000 sqm of new modern office buildings were handed over in Bucharest and there are big chances to break the 300,000 sqm threshold by the end of the year, according to Colliers International. The higher vacancy and infrastructure discrepancies will likely support a more thorough segmentation of the market, with the gap between well-located buildings and those at the opposite spectrum likely to increase over the medium term.

The largest supply of modern office space in 15 CEE countries was recorded in Warsaw, Budapest and in Prague, while the biggest increase of new supply in H1 2019 was noted in Bucharest. The most active tenant sectors are IT, professional services, banking, and BPO/SSC. More and more office buildings can boast of prestigious certificates, modern technological and ecological solutions and innovatively designed space, according to Colliers International’s latest report.

According to the latest CEE investment report by Skanska, Colliers International and Dentons, the region is expected to keep up the momentum. A favorable economic situation and a very good performance of the CEE cities drive demand for new investments, including in the office market. The office stock has been growing over recent years and now totals 21.8 million sqm throughout the entire CEE. Forecasted completions by 2021 will increase it by another 20% - to 26.5 million sqm. Last year’s investment in real estate markets in CEE reached approx. €13.2 billion, with over €5 billion in the office market.