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. 

COVID-19 has fundamentally challenged and modified the way the global workforce interacts, socializes, and collaborates. Flexible working practices, including working from home, have been heavily adopted as the recent pandemic has forced a trial run of remote working for industries, businesses, and individuals across the entire world. As a result, sentiments towards office space, its value, role, and contribution to the operation of daily work tasks are now being reconsidered both by employees and employers. While the pandemic has boosted the shift towards integrating flexible workspaces into corporate real estate portfolios, the fear that the office will lose its relevance is not realistic. Rather than becoming obsolete, it will become an increasingly valuable asset in facilitating collaboration and driving business growth, writes Gavin Bonner, Vice President of Romanian office developer Genesis Property in an opinion piece for Property Forum.

In Immofinanz's Hungarian portfolio, several lease agreements and extensions of almost 21,000 sqm have recently been completed. Thus, most of the company's local office buildings are currently fully leased.

Over 230 real estate projects in Romania have been certified to meet health, safety and sustainability standards and the pandemic has boosted the efforts of developers to meet targets for such ratings, according to Colliers. 

Online retailer eMAG will invest €1.5 million in upgrading its HQ building to accommodate the hybrid work system as it aims to make the program permanent for more than 3,000 employees. The HQ will be transformed into a collaborative workspace and will be fitted with technology systems that support the mix of office and remote work.  

Real estate developer One United Properties says that it secured the construction permit for 850 apartments that will be part of mixed-used project One Cotroceni Park. The project is developed on 5.8 hectares of land, on the former Ventilatorul industrial platform in Bucharest. 

Romanian entrepreneur Liviu Tudor has announced plans to revamp Novo Park, the office park he owns in northern Bucharest. The office facades will be refreshed and solar panels will be placed on top of each of the seven buildings in the complex. 

Polish developer Cavatina Holding, which has been active in the regional cities of Poland, has recently announced plans to go public. Rafał Malarz, CEO of the company talked to Property Forum about investing in large mixed-use projects, the future of the PRS sector in Poland, possible changes in the retail and office markets and shared some details about the upcoming IPO.

Real estate investor and developer GTC has appointed Ziv Gigi as Managing Director of operations in Romania. He has more than 15 years of experience in Central and Eastern Europe-based real estate markets, developing and operating dozens of projects in the office and retail segments.