The Prague office market in Q1 2022 experienced a further increase in vacancy, across the entire city. However, gross take-up recorded a year-on-year increase of 44% and thus returned to pre-pandemic levels. The increase in prices throughout the city is still felt especially in construction projects, mainly due to rising costs for materials and construction work, reports the Czech branch of Colliers in their regular survey.

According to the latest, fourth edition of a survey conducted by Zymetria (an analytical and research company) on behalf of Skanska's commercial development business unit, after two years of the coronavirus pandemic, 9 out of 10 Polish office employees believe that the traditional office is irreplaceable. Today, more than half of Poles work in a hybrid model – this translates to an almost double increase compared to May 2021. In addition, the hybrid is also the most preferred way of working – it is favoured by 70% of the respondents.

Hungarian lender OTP Bank's new 84,000 sqm complex, built by Market Zrt. and called M12. It is 7 stories high, with a 3-level underground garage. 

The demand for office space in Prague increased by 29% quarter-on-quarter for the first quarter of 2021 and by 44% year-on-year. Although the largest transactions of the quarter were lease renegotiations – including Seznam.cz (14,800 sqm) in Palác Křižík in Prague 5 or MSD Czech Republic (6,800 sqm) in Riverview in Prague 5 – the share of newly leased space increased to 58%. The increase in newly leased and pre-leased space indicates confidence and healthy growth of the Prague office market. Despite the fact that leasing activity posted record numbers, the vacancy rate rose by 60 basis points quarter-on-quarter to 8.4%. JLL recorded an increase in vacancy rates in almost all Prague districts, as announced in the last report.

Unlike logistics and retail assets, office buildings received less damage from the war in Ukraine, but it is still impossible to calculate the exact number of losses or destroyed office space. Iryna Nastych summarised the situation in an article prepared by the Ukrainian Real Estate Club for Property Forum.

As the pandemic-related restrictions have been lifted, large occupiers have returned to the office, most of them in a hybrid setup, while the office lease periods have fallen from 5 to 3 years, according to an analysis of real estate consultancy Crosspoint Real Estate. 

Andrzej Mikołajczyk, Managing Director of CA Immo Poland has answered Property Forum’s questions about the current attractiveness of Polish office assets, the expected supply gap and recent investment transactions.

Property group Globalworth has inked a 6-year green loan deal worth €85 million with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), which is a member of the World Bank.

Immofinanz has finalised the complete modernisation of the Myhive Haller Gardens office building in Budapest. The concept aims to allow tenants to use the community spaces for hosting guests, business meetings, and recreation in addition to their actual function. The reception areas and the gardens around the building are now available to tenants in a new concept and renewed form.

The America House office building in central Bucharest was refurbished as part of a €10 million investment that included the upgrading of the exterior ground floor area and the extension of green spaces.