While net industrial take-up is down compared to 12-18 months ago, we are seeing a large uptick in enquiries across CEE for strategic production spaces across the automotive, pharmaceuticals, and electric vehicle battery production sectors. James Fitzgerald, Director, Head of Industrial Agency at iO Partners Czechia talked to Property Forum about the main drivers of the CEE industrial market.

While international investors remain cautious, local players from CEE remain actively engaged, opportunistically monitoring the market, and taking advantage of reduced competition. Gábor Zeller, Senior Director, Capital Markets at iO Partners Hungary, talked to Property Forum about key investment trends and shared his market expectations for the rest of the year.

iO Partners, a JLL preferred partner, has announced two key promotions in the Office Advisory Department. Maria Florea has been appointed as the Head of Office Advisory Department and Claudia Cetățoiu has been promoted to the role of Corporate Transaction Director within the same unit. 

The Prague office market proved its stability with a total modern office stock surpassing 3.85 million sqm by the end of Q2 2023. Despite no new office buildings being completed this quarter, ongoing construction projects are poised to add approximately 66,800 sqm of office space across seven projects by year-end. In tandem, the market is embracing the evolving demand for flexible workspace solutions, with four new flexible office centres inaugurated during this quarter, iO Partners reports.

iO Partners, JLL preferred partner in Romania, Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia, has appointed Andrei Văcaru as Regional Head of Capital Markets for CEE. He has been working for the agency in Romania for the past 16 years.

Gross demand for office spaces in Bucharest hovered around 164,000 sqm in the first half of 2023, up by 22% compared to the same period of last year, while deliveries of new office buildings will remain on a downward trend by year-end, according to data from iO Partners. 

As it was announced in April, JLL will soon transfer most of its existing business lines to iO Partners in Romania, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia. US-based real estate private equity fund manager Michael Stanton, Founder of iO Partners, talked to Property Forum about the details of the deal and shared the new company’s plans for the future.

JLL and iO Partners have announced today that JLL will transfer its existing Leasing, Capital Markets, Valuations Advisory, Consulting and Project Management delivery businesses to iO Partners in Romania, Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia.