One of the most active industrial and logistics developers of the region has announced major expansion plans for Hungary this year. CTP hopes to increase the value of its Hungarian portfolio to €320 million by the end of 2018 from the current €250 million. Rudolf Nemes, CTP’s Country Manager for Hungary talked about changing tenant needs and challenges on the labour market.

Yareal has received the building permit to construct the first stage of the 65,000 sqm LIXA office complex. Yareal’s biggest office investment ever will co-create the business centre at Warsaw’s Daszyński roundabout.

Strabag SE, through its Romanian subsidiary, has been awarded the contract to build a 110 m tall office tower in central Bucharest. The contract has a value of about €39 million. Completion is scheduled for October 2019.

HB Reavis is simultaneously developing three buildings on the largest construction site in Warsaw city centre. The works on the diaphragm walls that will envelop the future basement storeys are nearing completion and a viewing platform has been opened for pedestrians to come and admire the spectacular excavation in progress.

The recently appointed CEO of HB Reavis Hungary firmly believes that new office developments should focus on employee wellbeing and he thinks that tenants will be ready to pay higher rental fees for extra services that will help decrease their turnover. Jan Hübner talked to Property Forum about his expectations for the future of the Hungarian market and about Agora Budapest, the company’s major new development in the capital.

AFI Europe set the cornerstone of AFI Brasov, the company’s third shopping mall in Romania and announced the advancement of construction works. AFI Brasov will include 200 shops and retail units with 80% of total space already leased. The first stage of construction includes a shopping center with a total gross leasable area of 45,000 sqm and one of the two Class A office towers that stretch over an area of 25,000 sqm GLA. The investment at this stage is of over €120 million. The company estimates that the delivery date of the project is Q1 2019.

Panattoni Europe is building a production facility for Reuss Seifert, German-based supplier of components for the construction industry. The facility featuring in excess of 30,000 sqm is going up in Nowa Sól, at the Kostrzyn-Słubice Special Economic Zone. The contract was mediated by CBRE.

The current forecast for total construction volumes in Hungary shows increases of 8% and 12% for 2017 and 2018, respectively. The barriers for the realization of the developments are the rise of construction costs and the lack of skilled labour force. CBRE expects that these issues raise risks of delivery delays and decrease of developers’ profit margins.