Skanska has launched the construction works of the second building of its Spark office complex in the Wola district of Warsaw. It will provide 18,000 sqm of modern office space and will be located at Serek Wolski. This ten-floor building, which will be developed during the II phase of Spark, will be delivered to market in Q1 2019.

Over time, some office locations enhance their position in the eyes of tenants while others – lose popularity. The reason for this change usually results from communication infrastructure as its development can create new business regions. JLL has taken a closer look at tenants’ preferences regarding office locations on major Polish markets based on concluded lease agreements. The company focused solely on new deals – excluding renewals of already existing contracts and expansions – signed in Warsaw (in 2012 and 2016), and Kraków, Wrocław, Tri-City, Katowice, Poznań and Łódź (in 2011 and 2016).

Reconstruction works on the former HQ of the Budapest Stock Exchange and the Hungarian Television are planned to start at the beginning of 2018 with a budget of €38 million. The 100-year-old building will be reborn as Exchange Palace, an office building with approximately 31,700 sqm of GLA:

Panattoni Europe is building a production facility for Reuss Seifert, German-based supplier of components for the construction industry. The facility featuring in excess of 30,000 sqm is going up in Nowa Sól, at the Kostrzyn-Słubice Special Economic Zone. The contract was mediated by CBRE.

Extensions to established shopping centres will be a significant driver of new floor space across Europe in the next two years, according to Cushman & Wakefield’s latest European Shopping Centre Development Report. 4.5 million sqm is expected to be delivered in 2017 and 2.3 million sqm in 2018. One-quarter of that will be attributable to the extensions of the existing shopping centres. In the Czech Republic extensions will make as much as 80%. 

Fenced-off construction sites, scaffold-enfolded buildings and grandiose developments – often only in plans – have become characteristic of the Budapest property market. Just four years after the deepest point of the recession, there is hardly any indication of those hard times left. The upwards trend exists not only on the residential market, but also on the office market, which impacts the majority of companies and employees. The largest investors adapted to the renewed demand and began building massive numbers of office buildings, and entire new areas of the city are being born.

The construction of a new Class A office building was announced in Debrecen. The 22,000 sqm office building will be the largest office building in Eastern Hungary. The building, set to be completed in Q3 2018, is designed by Bord Architect Studio. Office leasing, green certification and project consultation will be provided by the Hungarian office of Colliers International.

"The aggregate value of the investment involving several different investors is estimated at €150 million", said Marcus Wild, CEO of SES Spar European Shopping Centers, which will manage and own the newest shopping centre in Slovenia. This will grow in Šiška, the most densely populated district of Ljubljana, by the autumn of 2019. The construction work is already starting in June 2017.

The Bucharest office market recorded leasing transactions more than 100,000 sqm during Q1.2017, almost doubling the volume of transactions recorded in the same period of the previous year. Net office take-up during Q1 2017 stood at 57,200 sqm. Colliers International published its summary of the Bucharest office market in Q1 2017

According to a summary of Q1 2017 results, NEPI made progress with planning and permitting for several developments and extensions, including those in Galati, Novi Sad and Ramnicu Valcea. Further to the receipt of certain approvals, Victoriei Office in Bucharest is expected to receive permitting for the internal fit-out during the next quarter, enabling tenants to start operations in the fourth quarter of 2017. Zoning and permitting for the Promenada Mall extension continue to experience delays.