JLL Czech Republic announced the appointment of Alexandra Tomášková as Head of Office Solutions effective 1 May 2021. In her new role at JLL, Alexandra Tomášková will focus on the office sector with direct oversight of the firm's Office Leasing businesses together with Workplace Strategy and Project Management. In her new role, she will also closely cooperate with JLL’s Tétris Design & Build and Capital Markets teams on office-related services.

The accelerated growth of work from home arrangements has generated a new market for office space that can be leased directly by companies that have ongoing rent contracts for bigger surfaces. At present, around 70,000 sqm is available for sublease, which is a record figure for the Romanian market, according to representatives of JLL. 

Patrizia has appointed JLL as the commercialization agent for its office portfolio in Poland, consisting of eight buildings with space totaling approx. 65,000 sqm. JLL acts as a partner of MVGM, the new property manager of Patrizia’s portfolio.

According to analyses by JLL, Poles return to hotels in holiday resorts more willingly than in the spring 2020. Business hotels are still waiting for guests.

The activity on the Bulgarian real estate market was strongly affected by the COVID-19 crisis, but we saw more resilience for the investment and industrial sectors which registered both an increase during the last year. For 2021, the forecasts are still positive for the investment property market and for the industrial development sector, according to the Sofia City Report H2 2020, released by JLL Romania with the support of IPC Partners Bulgaria.

The growing maturity of the Polish industrial real estate sector is directing investor attention towards urban logistics properties. According to data from JLL and SEGRO, available investment land and the possibility to extend existing parks in the eight largest agglomerations allow for the development of up to 4 million sqm which could meet the increase in demand.

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.

Buyers want more rooms, but the minimum area they can accept in a given type of apartment is still decreasing, say JLL analysts.

Over the last decade, industrial supply has more than tripled from 6.3 million sqm at the end of 2010 to almost 21 million sqm in 2020. However, this rapidly developing real estate sector is now showing signs of maturity. This is illustrated by new formats appearing especially in the largest agglomerations. An example of this is the urban warehouse segment analysed together by JLL and SEGRO in the first report of its kind, "Logistics Avenue: city logistics market in Poland".

Growing international interest in pop-up stores has taken hold due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has caused a reevaluation of both traditional sales models, and customer shopping expectations. The main benefits associated with this particular format are the element of surprise, the opportunity to further enhance a retail offer as well as the chance to attract new groups of customers. Owners and tenants of retail locations are starting to see the benefit of pop-up stores along with many global brands such as Gucci and Prada, which have already responded to current trading conditions. So, is Poland set to see this trend as well?