2021 was a busy year for Romanian real estate agency Griffes with 44,000 sqm of office space leased, a new project as co-investor and the company’s first international leasing mandate. Andreea Paun, Managing Partner and Founder of Griffes talked to Property Forum about the results of last year and shared the company’s expansion plans for 2022.

New demand for office spaces in Bucharest soared 47% to 104,000 sqm year-on-year in 2021, while total demand volumes gained 23% to 263,000 sqm, according to real estate consultancy Colliers. 

The first phase of the Corvin Innovation Campus, with almost 17,200 sqm of office space, has reached its highest point. Developed by Futureal and located in the immediate vicinity of Corvin Promenade in Budapest, the first phase of the 30,000 sqm complex is expected to be completed by the end of 2022, while the second phase is scheduled for completion in Q4 2023.

Commercial real estate investments in Romania totalled €916 million in 2021, up only 0.2% compared to the previous year, marked by several transactions valued at more than €50 million in the office, retail and industrial segments, according to real estate consultancy Cushman & Wakefield Echinox. 

Beverages maker Heineken Romania will relocate its HQ to a new building under development in northern Bucharest. The company will occupy 3,200 sqm, similar to the surface it has leased in the S-Park project, owned by Immofinanz, according to profit.ro. 

Romanian developer One United Properties has completed the first phase of Bucharest-based One Cotroceni Office Park, with a gross leasable area of 46,000 sqm. The company said it has leased 75% of the office and commercial spaces by the time of delivery. 

Pan-European real estate investment manager Europa Capital, in partnership with commercial real estate investor and developer ConvergenCE, has acquired the Akadémia Business Center in Budapest. The acquisition has been completed on behalf of Europa Capital’s latest value add fund, Europa Fund VI.

The change in the office market which we witnessed in 2021 was only the warmup for what is to come in 2022 and forward. The sharing economy and digitization are driving the disruption in the office industry and the adaption of hybrid work models from international corporations are acting as a booster. New Work’s annual Flex Office Market Report 2022, presented in Warsaw and broadcasted internationally, provides some insights.

CBRE has secured a property management mandate for CA Immo's entire Budapest office portfolio of 9 buildings, the company announced on LinkedIn.

Last year was a demanding period for the office market and a test for us, which we managed to successfully pass, says Katarzyna Zawodna-Bijoch, President and CEO at Skanska’s commercial development business unit in Central & Eastern Europe (CEE). In 2022, we will witness safe and futureproof workplaces, new technologies as well as Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) areas becoming increasingly important, with the latter being subject to continuous intensive analyses as a business trend.