The immediate impact of COVID-19 pandemic in the real estate market will be felt during the second quarter of the year while on the medium and long term the focus will be on health and safety measures as well as on technology, these are the main takeaways from the Romania Call Flash, organized by CBRE Romania.

Panattoni has bought 14.8 hectares of land in Central Poland to build Panattoni Park Stryków IV. The project, which will feature 74,000 sqm at full build-out, will be developed at the intersection of the A1 and A2 motorways. Construction kick-off is planned for Q3 2020.

Is the lockdown completely rewriting CEE's risk map? How does COVID-19 affect real estate financing? How can I close an ongoing transaction without travelling? These and similar questions were discussed by the experts at Property Forum’s latest online investment panel.

7R, a Polish warehouse developer, is implementing new technology to manage the risks connected with flat roofs. The "Smart Roof" platform, developed by Sense Monitoring, helps to prevent roof overload by alerting the building's manager in advance of potential danger. 7R will apply the system in the 7R Park Gdańsk II logistics complex in Kowale, where a monitored roof will cover over 60,000 sqm of modern warehouse space.

Panattoni has leased approx. 7,300 sqm to DSV Road at City Logistics Łódź II. The facility will be handed over to the tenant in the coming June. To date, the developer has completed 10+ projects for the DSV Group, developing approx. 170,000 sqm of space in total in Poland and the Czech Republic.

In Central Europe, 5 buildings totalling 160,000 square meters are currently under construction by Prologis. The company published its first-quarter 2020 earnings results,

PNK Group, an international industrial real estate developer, concluded the sale of two of its modern industrial buildings with a total area of 45,000 square meters in its industrial park near Bratislava. The facilities in PNK Park Sered’, providing a regional base for Polish fast-fashion conglomerate LPP and German-based manufacturer in automotive industry Wegu, were acquired by the REICO IS ČS on behalf of ČS nemovitostní fond, for €30.6 million.

The latest online panel discussion of Property Forum focused on the effects of the COVID-19 lockdown on the Romanian property industry. The experts discussed, with the moderation of Răzvan Gheorghiu-Testa FRICS, Partner and Co-Head of Real Estate Practice Group at Ţuca Zbârcea & Asociaţii, how governmental measures affect the market and how different asset classes are impacted by the crisis.  

Panattoni has just bought land in Czeladź, the location of many previous projects by the developer. Construction works on the next distribution centre, the 36,500-square-metre Panattoni Park Czeladź V, will commence during this quarter.

IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is providing a green financing package of approximately €205 million to Warehouses De Pauw NV (WDP), a Belgian real-estate investment trust, to support the construction of around 1 million sqm of resource-efficient semi-industrial and logistics properties across Romania. The green financing fits within a larger €750 million financing programme and includes green financing from third-party investors mobilized by IFC under its Managed Co-Lending Portfolio Program and from international commercial banks.