According to the last few months’ most active investor on the Slovak market, investment activity is returning to normal. Martin Šmigura, investment manager of WOOD & Company’s real estate operations in Slovakia, talked to Property Forum about the company’s recent investment deals and shared his market expectations.

Affan Yildirim, General Manager and Board Member at Romania-based real estate developer Anchor Grup talked to Property Forum about business strategy and shared his expectations for the Romanian economy and the property investment market in 2021.

Companies from the BPO sector may be reducing their offices in North America or Western Europe, but they are taking up more space in CEE at the same time. Yovav Carmi, CEO of GTC talked to Property Forum about issuing green bonds, ESG strategies and the BPO industry.

For nearly 1.5 years, since the beginning of the pandemic, the hybrid work model has permanently established itself in the labour market. According to the report, "Back to the office - an opportunity and a challenge. The office market and coronavirus", prepared by Colliers, the vast majority of companies would like to stick to this model also in the post-pandemic reality. 

Savills has forecast the key ESG, investment and leasing trends for 2022 in 36 cities around the world as part of its 2021 global Impacts research programme. The international real estate advisor predicts that, globally, tech occupiers are set to dominate leasing activity, offices will be the most popular investment sector, prime real estate yields are set to remain largely static, and Asian cities are seemingly lagging behind others around the world when it comes to prioritising sustainable investment.

One year (and almost a half) since the pandemic outbreak, business leaders across the world are still struggling with a million-dollar question: how to safely bring their teams back together in the office and fully restart business? With the hybrid model taking shape and employees slowly returning to the workplace in different scenarios, companies are looking to deploy frameworks for the healthy way of working of the future and some are already considering health performance indicators to confirm they are on the right track, writes Darren Allen, Development Manager at Genesis Property and Director of the Healthy by Design Building Institute, in an opinion piece for Property Forum

What is most important to shopping centre visitors post-pandemic? Being able to shop in-store without having to rely on the internet and to make spontaneous, unplanned purchases is at the top of the list, shows the latest consumer survey commissioned by Cushman & Wakefield. Being able to participate in events held in shopping centres and access to fitness facilities were rated as least important.

Savills has examined both employee-driven and occupier/employer-driven factors to assess which global cities may see a faster transition to hybrid working post-COVID-19. From an office occupier perspective, New York, Paris, London, Berlin and Frankfurt may be primed for a faster transition to hybrid working, given comparatively high office costs, already flexible working practices and extended lockdowns, while less flexible working cultures in Mumbai, Shanghai and Ho Chi Minh City mean that any transition to hybrid working may be slower.

The International WELL Building Institute™ (IWBI) has confirmed that the Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn Express Warsaw - The HUB and conference centre located in The Warsaw HUB complex have been awarded the WELL Health-Safety Rating. They are the first hotels in Europe to receive this certification. Since July last year, nearly 12 thousand objects all over the world have been trying to obtain this certification. As a result, the entire complex of The Warsaw HUB meets the stringent security requirements against COVID-19.

Radosław T. Krochta, CEO & President of the Management Board of Polish industrial/logistics developer MLP Group S.A., is answering questions about the group’s expansion on the German market, changing requirements of warehouse space tenants and the long-term impact of the pandemic on the sector.