The Environment component in ESG is attracting the largest share of investments made by property players, as sustainable buildings have a better position in the market, concluded speakers in the ESG panel at SEE Property Forum 2022, held in Bucharest.

The Warsaw office market registered a minor uptick in the vacancy rate and a constrained development pipeline during the third quarter of 2022, reveals real estate advisory firm Newmark Polska in its latest report.

ESG is rewriting the rules of office leasing with the attitude of landlords, tenants and service providers gradually changing. During a panel discussion recently organised by CEE-based flex space provider New Work at Science Park in Budapest, market experts discussed the topic in detail.

Having accurate data about a building is essential for any transaction and during the entire lifetime of the asset, with proptech solutions gaining ground in the industry, concluded speakers during the data and technology panel of CEE Property Forum 2022 in Vienna.

Managing retail assets was never an easy job. As the energy crisis is no longer a future problem and the recession seems inevitable, firms involved face huge challenges and have to rethink their strategy and short-term steps to survive. Property Forum asked Miklós Gyertyánfy, Chief Operating Officer at Hungary-based landlord Gránit Pólus Management Zrt. about their way to tackle those challenges.

Members of the panel on ESG investments at CEE Property Forum 2022 in Vienna agreed that environmental issues are addressed much better than the social and governance parts of ESG. Panellists emphasised that leading organizations in the CRE industry should give clear guidance for improving 'S' and 'G' performance at all levels.

Susanne Steinböck, Group Head of Corporate Communications and Sustainability at CA Immo talked to Property Forum about the current state of affairs in the European office market, its attractiveness and energy-related challenges it has to face in the nearest future.

Property Forum spoke with Stefan Walter, Member of the Board of Directors at RSM International and Managing Partner of RSM Austria and Onno Adriaansens, Co-Chair of the RSM European Real Estate Group and Head of the Real Estate Desk at RSM Netherlands, about the consultancy’s focus on CEE markets and property investment trends in the region.

Rising financing costs do not help when it comes to planning ESG-related CapEx. However, most landlords wish to keep their buildings attractive to occupiers and higher energy costs are bringing the discussion of energy-efficient buildings into sharper focus, says CPI Property Group’s Non-Executive Director and Chairman of ESG Committee, Omar Sattar.

JLL has introduced a seven-person international Sustainability Services and ESG team. The team will focus on consultancy in both topics due to the constantly rising demand for sustainability services in the real estate sector.