The pandemic has caused a lot of change on the market but these changes can easily be viewed as an opportunity for further growth as Jonathan Hallett, Head of Central & Eastern Europe at Cushman & Wakefield demonstrates. He talked to Property Forum about the results of the last year and shared his expectations for the future of work and the CEE advisory market.

At the end of April 2021 Adgar Poland bought the building of PDT Wola. With an area of almost 10 thousand square meters, the structure is located in the middle of the historical Wola and for years has been one of the most important points on the architectural map of the district. Part of the building will be destined for the Brain Embassy – providing coworking space, offices, private spaces for companies, and conference and training rooms.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has successfully subscribed to a €24.7 million ticket as part of an inaugural five-year €300 million green bond issuance by MAS Securities BV. The firm is wholly owned by MAS Real Estate Inc., an investor and operator of predominantly retail real estate assets that focuses on CEE.

Radisson Hotel Group has announced a €24 million investment program in Radisson Blu Bucharest Hotel, owned by Revetas Capital and Cerberus Capital Management, that will include the redesign of common spaces and the increase of the room count. 

Hungarian state-owned NIPÜF Group has completed another sales transaction with the sale of a nearly 3 ha plot in the Inpark Martonvásár industrial park, located southwest of Budapest. A Hungarian chemical company will build a 4,000 sqm production hall on the property by 2022.

In the first quarter of this year €1.25 billion was spent on commercial real estate in Poland. This reflects a decrease of only 1.5% compared to the five-year average for the first quarters of 2017-2021. Offices have the largest share in the investment market, but the industrial and logistics segment is also continuing its streak. Capital investment came to Poland mainly from Europe, according to the latest CBRE report. The company's experts indicate that there is moderate optimism on the investment market, which is reflected in the safe choices of investors.

Aggregate revenue reported by nearly 20 construction groups whose stock is listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange grew by a nominal 4.3% in 2020, which is a scant rise in real terms, given continued increases in the prices of building materials and labour costs. However, the aggregate net profit posted by these companies improved clearly as it grew by almost PLN 0.5bn over the year. Notwithstanding that, net financial performance of the listed construction companies and profit margin figures they report still pale in comparison to results delivered by property developers and suppliers of building materials and construction equipment.

The volume of investments in Romania’s property sector exceeded €140 million in the first four months of 2021 due to a positive market sentiment, according to a report by real estate consultancy Crosspoint Real Estate. 

Cushman & Wakefield has summarised Q1 2021 on the Polish investment market. According to the firm’s experts, this year got off to a positive start, with investment volumes 10% above the five-year average for pre-pandemic first quarters.

Cushman & Wakefield has summarised the first quarter of 2021 in the CEE commercial real estate market. Investment volume at the end of the first quarter stands at €2 billion, down by around 20% compared to the same period in 2020.