The end of the first semester has brought to light great achievements from regional cities in all real estate segments on the Romanian market. Bucharest has also performed well and, according to the real estate consultancy company Colliers International Romania, the prospects for the remainder of the year remain strong.

Real estate developers pay special attention to the environment by developing efficient and sustainable, green certified projects. With a history of almost four years, the WELL Building Standard complements these certifications and shifts the attention from the built environment to the health of the employees. In Romania, this phenomenon is in its inception and Colliers International Romania is the first real estate consultancy company with a team of WELL professionals – two out of the five that are present on a national level.

The availability of workers is right now perhaps the most significant factor for companies when assessing business plans and prospects in the CEE region. Colliers International presented the extent of the problem and the most likely solutions in a new report.

The accelerated economic development of the major regional cities in Romania is beginning to influence their real estate market as well. According to Colliers International, there are strong arguments to support the increased interest in office leasing and the strong investment potential, so cities such as Cluj-Napoca, Timisoara, Iasi or Brasov can offer an alternative to Bucharest.

Colliers sold the former Remy Automotive industrial site in Mezőkövesd, Hungary to Kiss és Társa Ltd, a local entrepreneur in the iron/metal business. The site has approx. 16 000 sqm buildings on a 13.6 ha plot and will be used for iron/metal production and warehousing purposes. Colliers represented the vendor, BorgWarner, the widely known, major automotive supplier during the transaction.

Colliers International Romania advised on the sale of Maestro Business Center office building in Cluj-Napoca, one of Romania’s most important regional cities. The acquisition made by First Property Group, a UK investment fund, favors the opening of a new investment market in Cluj-Napoca.

The location and the commercial offer are the most important criteria taken into consideration by parents visiting shopping centres with children – these are the main conclusions from the research conducted by Colliers International in cooperation with the Polish Council of Shopping Centres (PRCH) and Ariadna (research agency) in the eight biggest Polish agglomerations in terms of shopping centre child-friendliness.

The CEE hotel market experienced rapid growth in the last three years both in terms of hotel performance and transaction volume due to the dynamically expanding tourism industry. Within the region, the Budapest hotel market has seen exceptional growth, as its RevPAR (revenue per available room) growth outpaced the key regional capital cities, according to Colliers International's latest hotel market study.

Kiddo Play Academy, a company which specializes in family entertainment, will open its second playground in Bucharest on the 1st of June, on an area of approximately 1,200 sqm in ParkLake Shopping Center. The leasing negotiations were conducted by Colliers International Romania.

Colliers International has carried out research into retail units in the Warsaw’s office buildings. The study covered approximately 300 buildings and a survey was carried out on a sample of 200 employees. Colliers experts asked respondents about their expectations about the quality of the retail and service units in their workplace and what they have available at present.