The pandemic has thrown coworking spaces into a distressing situation and some smaller market players are, in fact, finding it difficult to keep afloat. How will coworking spaces attract companies in the new post-pandemic reality? What will the flexible office of the future look like? Cushman & Wakefield is looking for the answers.

Dariusz Grzeszczak, CEO of Erbud, one of the largest construction groups in Poland talked to Property Forum about new contracts under pandemic-related circumstances, the situation on the labour market and the future of wooden modular construction.

FMCG discounters have been going from strength to strength throughout Poland in recent years and have attracted growing levels of consumer interest amid the pandemic. What are the growth opportunities for this sector? Jakub Sadowski from Cushman & Wakefield talks about the direction discount retailers are now heading in.

The future of work will be agile, flexible, and hybrid, says a new report by HB Reavis. According to “The Future of Work”, simply offering a split between at-home and in-office work is no longer enough. Increasing productivity and employee wellbeing is all about the digital experience, and 2020 has brought a new understanding of what the workplace should look like to both employers and employees.

The retail park format was gaining ground before the pandemic and continues to grow despite it. Over the past 20 years, the share of retail parks in the entire pool of shopping facilities in the country has increased from 6% to 15% and now they occupy approximately 1.97 million sqm, according to CBRE data. Retail parks remain popular among investors, confirming their strong position, even in times of a pandemic. Their popularity is underpinned by their locality, concentration of stores providing basic needs in one place and a smaller number of customer contact points than in large centres. According to CBRE experts, the current trends indicate that by 2030 retail parks may constitute 28% of all shopping space in Poland.

Property Forum’s upcoming free-to-attend virtual event aims to answer some of the many questions around the future of workplaces. As the pandemic has forced many employees into remote working, many offices around the world sit empty and nobody’s sure when they’ll be filled with life again. One thing seems certain: the way we design, build, use and operate offices will change forever. The question is: how?

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.