The pandemic has caused a lot of change on the market but these changes can easily be viewed as an opportunity for further growth as Jonathan Hallett, Head of Central & Eastern Europe at Cushman & Wakefield demonstrates. He talked to Property Forum about the results of the last year and shared his expectations for the future of work and the CEE advisory market.

Shopping centre footfall in February in Poland, prior to the fourth lockdown, averaged approximately 80% of last year’s levels. Shoppers will return to shopping centres once restrictions are lifted, say experts of Cushman & Wakefield.

In the first quarter of this year €1.25 billion was spent on commercial real estate in Poland. This reflects a decrease of only 1.5% compared to the five-year average for the first quarters of 2017-2021. Offices have the largest share in the investment market, but the industrial and logistics segment is also continuing its streak. Capital investment came to Poland mainly from Europe, according to the latest CBRE report. The company's experts indicate that there is moderate optimism on the investment market, which is reflected in the safe choices of investors.

Close to 70,000 sqm of new retail space was delivered to the Polish market in Q1 2021, reveals Cushman & Wakefield. The new supply was dominated by small retail parks and standalone stores.

The pandemic has translated into a more cautious approach on the market along with lower office demand. Although office development in Poland is at its lowest level for eight years, regional markets are holding their ground with 800,000 sqm under construction. Advisory company JLL summarises Q1 2021 on the office market in Poland.

Cushman & Wakefield has summarised Q1 2021 on the Polish investment market. According to the firm’s experts, this year got off to a positive start, with investment volumes 10% above the five-year average for pre-pandemic first quarters.

More and more tenants are moving into the recently completed office building in the project of My Place. The second and last office building belonging to the multifunctional project developed by Echo Investment in Warsaw's Dolny Mokotów has become a new location for companies from different industries such as technology, finance, beauty and creative sector i.e. marketing and advertising. KAN, ArsThanea, Synektik, Networks! or Bozza have joined Echo's list of tenants.

According to Colliers, CEE investment flows are down by almost 48% on Q1 2020, at ca. €2.0 billion. Despite the slow start, 2021 year-end volumes are estimated to accelerate to reach similar levels to 2020, of around €10.0 billion.

A total of 23 retail park projects with a total area of almost 55,000 sqm were completed in the Czech Republic last year, with the volume of development exceeding a ten-year average. In effect, the aggregate area of all retail parks in the Czech Republic has exceeded 1 million sqm. Retail park development currently focuses on smaller towns with up to 40,000 inhabitants. The greatest volume of new development was in the Central Bohemian Region last year, according to an analysis by Cushman & Wakefield.

Over the year, since the COVID-19 pandemic arrived in Poland, the Warsaw office market has seen a marked decrease in occupier demand and office stock under construction amid rising vacancy rates. Although the past 12 months have been challenging for the office sector, companies are no less keen to have an office of their own, says real estate advisory firm Savills.