The Czech Republic once again ranks high in the rating of the 47 best manufacturing destinations. Thanks to a good score in all criteria such as operating costs, labour, political and economic risk and the ability to bounce back after the coronavirus crisis, the country came fifth globally and first in Europe. Since 2016 when the Czech Republic was included in Cushman & Wakefield’s Manufacturing Risk Index for the first time, it has been ranked among the best manufacturing destinations on a regular basis.

Cushman & Wakefield will represent the owner of the Kraków office complex in Armii Krajowej Street, a major road of the city, in office leasing processes. The complex offers a total of more than 36,900 sq m of modern office space.

The office market is now at the epicentre of changes caused by the transition to the remote work model due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, with the epidemic situation improving, organisations have already commenced planning the return of employees to the workplace. The analysis of the findings of a survey of tenants of the office buildings in the portfolio of properties under the management of Cushman & Wakefield Poland reveals how companies are preparing for this change.

The occupancy level in Prague’s hotels was just 10% during the first six months of this year, with revenue remaining far below the average of the pre-coronavirus years. Contrary to initial expectations, their owners are not selling them – definitely not on a mass scale. Investors’ interest in buying remains strong – more than one-third of them are “very” or “highly” interested in Prague, according to Cushman & Wakefield’s current Hotel Investor Beat survey. Investors obviously trust Prague’s hospitality market and perceive its current situation as temporary.

Bluehouse Capital has sold the Point Shopping Center in Zagreb. CBS International, part of the Cushman & Wakefield Group, acted as advisor on the deal as an exclusive sales representative, ekapija.com reports. The buyer was Slovenian investor TRIGAL Alternative Investment Fund, the company announced on LinkedIn.

Following their reopening in May, shopping centres have seen both their revenue and footfall increase to a rate exceeding the performance during the same period last year. The footfall was lower than in the pre-crisis year 2019, but the revenue was comparable; in fact, it was slightly higher. Supermarkets and hypermarkets fare the best in terms of revenue; electronics and health and beauty products are also doing well. The current performance of shopping centres can therefore be described as very strong, with figures exceeding initial expectations, and investors show renewed interest in properties again, with several major retail transactions being planned for this year and the next. To date, office and logistics properties have been selling the best this year.

Total take-up on the Bratislava office market reached 37,000 sqm which represents a year-on-year increase of 19.5%. As the pandemic slowed down, retail leasing activity also returned and with it the surge in footfall and turnovers. Total quarterly industrial/logistics take-up recorded a strong 22% year-on-year growth, reaching 146,300 sqm. Cushman & Wakefield published its Q2 2021 industrial, office and retail market reports focused on the Slovak market.

Cushman & Wakefield summed up the first half of 2021 on the commercial real estate market in the CEE region. The investment volume at the end of the first half of the year amounts to €3.7 billion and is nearly 25% lower than in the same period in 2020.

Total investments in commercial real estate in Slovakia in the first half of 2021 reached €478 million, which almost equalled the volume of investments for the entire previous year.

Cushman & Wakefield has analysed the findings of a survey carried out by SW Research on a representative sample of the inhabitants of the largest Polish cities. Polish people are increasingly choosing to rent as home prices have reached sky-high levels; additionally, they favour renting for its flexibility and convenience.