Speedwell's development pipeline in Romania has a strong focus on the residential segment but the company also aims to expand its SpacePlus industrial product across the country and CEE. Property Forum sat down with Didier Balcaen and Jan Demeyere, Co-Founders of Speedwell, at MIPIM, to talk about the financing environment and challenges related to inflation and the shortage of construction materials.

The Prague City Council plans to start building hundreds of council flats for rent in the coming years. The municipality wants to address the deepening housing affordability crisis in this way, E15.cz reports.

Inspired by its parent company, UBM Development Czechia wants to use more ecological elements in its future construction in the Czech Republic and thus strengthen the trend of sustainable construction. One of them is eco-friendly wooden structures, the company announced today.  

The Getberg development company is now starting to build a new residential project Forest Views in Dařbož near Prague. Another project is in the pipeline in Dubí and two projects near the capital - in Strančice u Říčany and Unhošt' - are currently being completed, Getberg announced.

In Ljubljana, a huge mixed-use project will see the creation of a new railway station, a new bus station, a hotel, a shopping centre, offices and apartments as part of the Emonika project. The public infrastructure project will be complemented by a private development by Mendota Invest, owned by Hungary’s OTP Real Estate Investment Fund. The project, which is worth nearly €500 million, was presented in Ljubljana by Sándor Csányi, CEO of OTP, Jernej Vrtovec, Slovenia’s Minister of Infrastructure, Zorán Janković, Mayor of Ljubljana, Dusan Mes, CEO of the Slovenian Railways and Janez Kozelj, Deputy Mayor of Ljubljana, Hungarian business daily Portfolio reports.

The French group will open a Mercure hotel in Debrecen, the second-largest city in Hungary. This will be the second destination for the brand outside Budapest.

The five-star lifestyle hotel has 136 rooms, two restaurants, and a bar. An event venue was also established on the roof of the building in downtown Budapest.

GARBE Industrial Real Estate Czech Republic has commenced the development of 30,000 sqm at GARBE Park Chomutov. The structure will be built on the plot of a former construction company. GARBE demolished and revitalized the brownfield area and prepared it for the new construction of an industrial hall, which will be finished by the end of this year.

Penta Real Estate is planning a new development on the banks of the Danube in Bratislava. Therefore, the company has acquired land from HB Reavis with a total area of 85,000 sqm. The price of the transaction was not disclosed. The new acquisition was reported by news portal Trend, which is part of the NMH publishing house owned by Penta Investments.

Hungary-based developer Alfa Group has decided to cancel the bond auction within the Hungarian NKP framework in Q1 due to increased interest rates. As the main reason for bond issuance was the need for a financing development pipeline, an alternative source of financing with attractive commercial terms was considered better.