Chicago, Houston, New York, San Francisco and Warsaw have over 40% of their total office stock certified ‘green’, making their office markets some of the most environmentally sustainable in the world, according to Savills World Research. But in many major cities there is a significant disconnect between city governments’ ambitious net-zero targets and the green credentials of existing stock.

Increasing costs of energy and construction materials have visibly reinforced the need to think about the carbon footprint of the real estate industry through construction and building efficiencies. Benjamin Perez-Ellischewitz, Principal at Avison Young in Hungary talked to Property Forum about the impacts of the pandemic and the war in Ukraine on the real estate market and shared his thoughts about companies’ evolving approach toward ESG.

Romanians want offices where they have options for networking and interacting both at work and in their free time, a trend that is increasingly visible around the world, according to a survey commissioned by local developer Genesis Property. 

According to Savills latest research, over 5.7 million sqm of new office space will be completed in Europe in 2022, of which 49% is currently pre-let. In Warsaw, Savills forecasts that a rebound in demand and an undersupply of new office stock will translate into visibly shrinking availability.

Cushman & Wakefield has published a summary of the first quarter of 2022 on the largest office markets in Poland. New supply rose by 60% year-on-year, while the overall vacancy rate edged up by 1.7 pp.

pbb Deutsche Pfandbriefbank has provided a €118 million credit facility to REICO ČS NEMOVITOSTNÍ, the biggest open-ended real estate fund on the Czech market, managed by REICO, an investment company of Česká spořitelna. The facility will be used to fund the acquisition of two newly built logistic properties in Upper Silesia as well as for the refinancing of an office building in Warsaw.

Net profit of PLN 51 million, an increase in the value of office projects under construction and handing over to customers 399 apartments – this is a brief summary of Q1 2022 results of Echo Investment Group. The developer also published its second sustainability report where it summarised last year's achievements and results in the areas of environmental, social and corporate governance.

As governments across Europe are ending Covid-related restrictions, business must also redefine their workplace strategies. Forcing people to return to the office full-time after long months of lockdowns might not be the most effective strategy and the idea of a full-time WFH also only works in very specific cases, says flex office provider New Work in its latest analysis.

AFI Europe Romania has completed the refurbishment of all public areas within its AFI Lakeview office building in Bucharest following an investment of around €2 million. 

Greenstone Asset Management, acting on behalf of EuroEast B.V., has announced the sale of the Tensor Office Park in Gdynia to a JV managed by the Czech fund INVESTIKA realitní fond and Bud Holdings. The value of the transaction remains undisclosed.