Property Forum’s upcoming free-to-attend virtual event will aim to provide a property investment outlook for 2021. In the form of a keynote speech and two panel discussions, influential investors, developers and advisors will share their expectations and investment strategies for the second pandemic year.

COVID-19 has slowed the activity of office developers, but intensified competition in the residential land market. Warehouses are now so popular among investors that one can speak of a shrinking supply of land for more of these projects. JLL analyses trends in the investment land market for office, residential, retail, logistics/industrial and hotel projects in Poland.

Linklaters has advised the Czech investor Investika realitní fond, OPF on the acquisition of the Szyperska Office Center office building in Poznań from Wechta Nieruchomości sp. z o.o., which is a company from the group of one of the largest developers in Greater Poland.

“Sheds, Beds, Meds” and other alternative market sectors will dominate the EMEA investment agenda this year, as investors remain risk-averse, focusing on core markets with better long-term growth prospects until the economic impact of COVID-19 abates. These findings form part of ‘The Signal Report: Investor’s Quarterly Guide to 2021’, the latest global investment insights from Cushman & Wakefield.

Sale and leaseback transactions (S&LB) in Europe reached a total of €8.4 billion in 2020, 8.5% higher than the five year average, with the trend set to continue into 2021, according to Savills. Also in Poland, Savills sees an increasing number of companies willing to take the sale and lease back route mainly in industrial and retail sectors.

Amazon announced that will open three new offices in Romania and add a further 500 new permanent roles by the end of 2021. Amazon plans to open a new office in Timișoara and two new offices in Iași. The company has a total permanent workforce in Romania of more than 2,500.

Hungary’s property investment volume is expected to expand dynamically in 2021, since a significant amount of capital is looking for its place in the market. Offices with high levels of occupancy and logistics assets will be in the focus of investors. Hungarian advisory firm Eston, an official associate of Savills, has published its market reports for H2 2020.

After a year in which the volume of investments amounted to about €900 million, 2021 will not be as rosy. Colliers consultants foresee a total volume for commercial real estate transactions in excess of €500 million. They also see room for a slight decrease in yields by the end of the year for prime office and prime industrial, if the economy, political and monetary system will be satisfactory.

VGP announces the acquisition of a new land plot in a prime location near Bucharest and the start of the development of its new multi-tenant business park VGP Park Bucharest. Law firm Kinstellar advised VGP Parks on the acquisition.

Prima Development Group announces the completion of the Boemia Apartments project, whose construction started in 2019 in Bucharest.