Cushman & Wakefield has expanded its Project & Development Services (PDS) team, to include a new Design & Build (D&B) platform. The new European service line is headed by Glyn Evans for the CEE region, based in Prague. Andrew Frizell, Partner and Head of Project Management CEE is leading the new service line in Poland supported by Glyn Evans.

19 % of all existing shopping centres in the Czech Republic have been refurbished to date. Further revitalizations are yet to be completed, according to Cushman & Wakefield.

The Bitwy Warszawskiej Business Center has received the BREEAM IN-USE certificate with a “Very Good” rating in Asset Performance and Building Management. The audit was conducted by Cushman & Wakefield. CA Immo is the owner of the office building.

The valuation department of the Cushman & Wakefield Echinox has evaluated over 700 properties in 2017 with a cumulative value of €3.1 billion, while estimating an increase of 33% of the valuation volume, to the level of €4 billion during this year.

Cushman & Wakefield has published a summary of the first quarter of 2018 on Poland’s regional office markets. Following the record-breaking performance in 2017, the total office stock of regional cities rose by 3% q/q by the end of Q1 2018 to 4.5 million sqm. The average vacancy rate for the regional markets was down 0.6 p.p. at 9.3%. The largest concentration of development activity is in Wrocław and Krakow.

CPI Property Group announced the acquisition of Atrium Centrum & Atrium Plaza office buildings in Warsaw, Poland. Atrium Centrum & Atrium Plaza are seven-storey office buildings located in the centre of Warsaw. The two office buildings have an aggregate GLA of 31,869 sqm and include a medical centre, a restaurant, a bank, a pharmacy, a premium fashion store and 410 parking lots. CPIPG worked directly with the seller, which was a fund under the management of Peakside Capital Advisors.

The key catalyst behind the further growth of Poland’s regional office markets is the BSS sector, which is increasingly expanding into smaller cities as tenants continue looking for attractive alternatives outside Warsaw. This is benefiting such locations as Krakow, Wrocław and Tricity and all the regional markets are seeing multiple modern office projects underway in response to the growing occupier demand.

Preliminary data has revealed an increase in shopping centre footfall on Thursdays, Fridays and Mondays, and a decrease on Saturdays. Cushman & Wakefield presented a summary of the first quarter of 2018 on the Polish retail market in its latest report.

Automation and digitisation penetrating all spheres of life also have a material impact on the economy. Experts of Cushman & Wakefield have identified five key factors that will shape the retail and warehouse market growth going forward.

Occupier activity set an all-time high on the Polish industrial market in the first three months of 2018, which pushed the country’s vacancy rate down to its lowest on record. Demand came mostly from e-commerce (24%), logistics operators (23%) and retailers (19%). Cushman & Wakefield presented a summary of the first quarter of 2018 on the Polish warehouse and industrial market.