Last year, international law firm Kinstellar played a vital part in closing two of the largest transactions on the office market in Romania: Floreasca Park, sold to Resolution Property (member of the Fosun Group) and Zeus Capital for more than €100 million and two Class A office buildings owned by Skanska sold to S Immo for €97 million. This was in addition to a series of deals in logistics and other asset classes. Property Forum talked to Victor Constantinescu, Managing Partner of the Bucharest office and Co-Head of the firm-wide Real Estate Practice, about how the first year of the pandemic was and what’s next.

The latest online panel discussion by Property Forum focused on real estate financing strategies in the second pandemic year. Influential bankers, CFOs and advisors discussed, with the moderation of Csanád Csürös, CEO of Property Forum, how the perception of real estate as an asset class has changed and how the pandemic impacted financing conditions.

Without a doubt, the pandemic has brought many changes for the retail market but many developers see this as a time for trailblazers. Christoph Andexlinger, Chief Operations Officer at SES Spar European Shopping Centers discussed with Property Forum the effects the pandemic had on the company’s operations and shared some details about future plans.

COVID-19 has fundamentally challenged and modified the way the global workforce interacts, socializes, and collaborates. Flexible working practices, including working from home, have been heavily adopted as the recent pandemic has forced a trial run of remote working for industries, businesses, and individuals across the entire world. As a result, sentiments towards office space, its value, role, and contribution to the operation of daily work tasks are now being reconsidered both by employees and employers. While the pandemic has boosted the shift towards integrating flexible workspaces into corporate real estate portfolios, the fear that the office will lose its relevance is not realistic. Rather than becoming obsolete, it will become an increasingly valuable asset in facilitating collaboration and driving business growth, writes Gavin Bonner, Vice President of Romanian office developer Genesis Property in an opinion piece for Property Forum.

In 2020, we saw a significant shift in the perception of warehouses and the role they play in the economy. Investors now see them as highly valuable assets. Tomasz Lubowiecki, President of the Board at Polish logistics developer 7R talked to Property Forum about prosperity on the warehouse market, last mile logistics and difficulties around nearshoring.

Radisson Hotel Group is launching a rapid testing service for meeting and event attendees at properties across its EMEA portfolio. The testing program builds on the Radisson Hotels Safety Protocol launched in 2020. In addition, upon full implementation of the program every hotel will be able to provide guests with the option to visit an easily accessible and affordable PCR testing location, either at the hotel site or in its vicinity.

The pandemic brings a substantial evolution rather than a catalyst for a revolution. It accelerates ongoing changes in real estate strategies that otherwise would have taken years to implement, says Arkadiusz Rudzki, Executive Vice President of Leasing & Sales at Skanska office development in CEE, who shared his thoughts on workplace trends with Property Forum.

In the largest cities, we can observe the implementation of spectacular office projects. Completion of some investments affects the classification of the tallest buildings in Poland.

In 2020, the total office stock of Poland’s nine largest cities grew by 6.2%, according to figures from Cushman & Wakefield. At the end of 2020, the development pipeline comprised 84 projects, most of which were underway in Warsaw, Krakow and Tricity. Due to the economic uncertainty caused by the outbreak of the pandemic, the market has seen a notable increase in office space marketed for subleasing.

At the end of 2020, GTC’s property portfolio reached €2.1 billion while total revenues were at €160 million. Profit before tax and fair value adjustments reached €66 million in 2020, down from €73 million in 2019. Occupancy across the whole portfolio was steady at 91% despite a very challenging environment. GTC presented its 2020 financial results.