Maciej Runkiewicz, CEO of Kajima Poland has talked to Property Forum about the current challenges on the Polish construction market, new supply chains and ESG's impact on the warehousing sector.

In 1.5 years, 275 modular bathrooms have been installed in YIT apartments in the Czech Republic. The developer is expanding the use of prefabrication to other building elements. By incorporating this technology, the company plans to not only improve the quality of its residential projects but also speed up their implementation. At the same time, it expects to have less demand for labour, which is in short supply. In addition to bathrooms, the developer is now also using modular manufacturing for structural elements. The Czech branch of YIT is following in the footsteps of its parent company in Finland, which has been building in this way since the 1970s, YIT told the press.

The composition of Croatia’s construction output is changing. While the residential segment may soon experience a slowdown, health-related construction - public and private renovations and new builds alike - is seeing a considerable boom, write Michael Glazer (SEE Regional Advisors) and Tatjana Halapija (Nada Projekt), Croatian members of the EECFA (Eastern European Construction Forecasting Association).

The four-star facility called Flow hotel was opened in Inárcs on Thursday and is to welcome conferences and ceremonial events such as weddings. It was financed in total by a private investor. 

Glavbolgarstroy has inaugurated a fасtоrу for  pre-stressed reinforced concrete structures near Раzаrdzhіk, Bulgaria. The newly–opened plant provides 63 jobs, with a capacity of 80,000–140,000 square metres of built–up area per year, and a wide selection of frame construction schemes. The іnvеѕtmеnt amounts €6 mіllіоn (ВGN 10 mіllіоn).

Last summer, Invesco Real Estate bought the Delta building, one of the phases of its multifunctional Hagibor project, from developer group Crestyl. The building is to include a total of 165 flats in layouts ranging from 1+kk to 4+kk for rental housing purposes. Construction started in Q4 of last year and is scheduled for completion in Q3 2024. Zeitgeist Asset Management will take care of the complete management of the project during construction, as well as the subsequent leasing and management of the apartments, the company announced.

While the costs of construction materials in Romania rose during 2022, impacting the ability of developers to self-finance their projects, the current outlook is not pointing towards an improvement of this situation this year, according to an analysis by the Eastern European Construction Forecasting Association (EECFA).

The latest EBI Construction Activity Report, prepared by Eltinga, Buildecon, and iBuild, has found that after the weak Q3 2022, Q4 2022 saw a slight nominal expansion in activity-start in Hungarian construction. The value of started construction works was still very low; between October and December 2022 they totalled roughly HUF 650 billion.

Romanian private equity company Roca Investments has attracted RON 100 million (around €20 million) in new equity in a bid to expand its regional presence in the industry and agriculture field. The fund is also a controlling shareholder in key suppliers for the real estate industry. 

According to Michael Klien from WIFO (the Austrian Euroconstruct member institute), 2022 was the second year of recovery for the European construction industry after the outbreak of the pandemic. The year-on-year growth rates of 3% were, however, much lower than in 2021 (+5.8%) owing to the sharp rise in construction costs, Euroconstruct reports in its latest press release.