According to a study conducted by research body Inquiry for the Polish Council of Shopping Centres (PRCH), 51% of those surveyed visited shopping centres in the first week after they reopened following the easing of the lockdown measures. Out of these, 64% visited shopping centres to make specific purchases, while 31% went to browse the stores or to seek out promotions.

CA Immo presented its results for the first quarter of 2020. The company registered solid growth in rental income (+7.2% year-on-year) and although the negative revaluation result reflects the exceptional economic situation now prevailing, other positive earnings contributions made up for this.

Nine shopping centre owners in Romania, together with CBRE, have urged the Romanian Government to reopen large shopping centres as soon as possible.

Ghelamco Poland has introduced special solutions to its office buildings to prepare them for an epidemic which will become a standard in the company’s future projects. A new approach to HVAC systems will enable the buildings to operate in the so-called pandemic mode.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused chaos across the global economy. Within the commercial real estate market, logistics has weathered this storm better than other sectors, allowing planning of new developments to gradually resume following price corrections. Changes in financing conditions for real estate development may alter the new supply structure, with a likely increase in demand for BTO (build to own) and BTS (build to suit) development projects and a decline in speculative schemes, according to advisory firm Axi Immo.

The first quarter of the year 2020, mostly starting with mid-February, was marked by ominous economic forecasts. Thus, some decline in construction activity was to be expected, and indeed newly started construction projects dropped to just over €1.3 billion in Q1 2020. This amounts to a 14% decrease compared to the equivalent period of 2019, according to the latest edition of the EBI Construction Activity Report for Romania.

Developer NEPI Rockcastle completed the construction of the 39,800 sqm Shopping City Targu Mures project in Romania in Q1 2020. The opening was, however, rescheduled from the end of March to Q3 2020. The company is not launching new constructions until there is further clarity on the impact of COVID-19 on its operations.

Futureal Group has launched the construction of Corvin Innovation Campus. The office complex equipped with contactless technology will offer nearly 30,000 sqm of gross leasable area (GLA) in the immediate vicinity of Corvin Promenade in Budapest. The new-generation building is being developed under Futureal’s Stay Safe initiative designed to respond to the changing market demand due to the COVID-19 epidemic. The first phase of the building is expected to be handed over in the autumn of 2022.

With the easing of the strict governmental regulations in Budapest, NEPI Rockcastle Group, the owner of Arena Mall and Mammut Shopping and Entertainment Center is starting to get back to its usual operation. The company has introduced further safety measures in their Budapest shopping centres.

The share of flexible office space take-up across Europe decreased in the first quarter of 2020 to reach 5% from 9.5% at the end of 2019. The sector has expanded exponentially from 2017-2019, and is reaching maturity, as large providers become less expansionary.