Straco Real Estate and Baltisse announce the successful acquisition of a majority stake in SPEEDWELL, a premier real estate developer based in Romania. This strategic move solidifies Baltisse and Straco's commitment to expanding their presence in Eastern Europe, leveraging SPEEDWELL's established reputation and expertise in the region.

Bucharest still has some of the lowest fit-out costs in the region for offices, despite an increase of around 15-20% during the past 12 months, according to Cushman & Wakefield Echinox data. Office fit-out costs in Bucharest have an average of €943 per sqm, which is 32% below Warsaw and Prague, and 32% above Sofia, which has the most advantageous costs in the region.

Futureal Investment Partners, a member of Futureal Group, has finalized the ESG repositioning of its Wratislavia Tower in Wrocław, Poland. During the process, the building also received a BREEAM Excellent in-use certificate. The retrofitting project followed Futureal's "Office Impact Strategy," whereby older office buildings are being redeveloped to meet modern ESG market standards.

Victor Căpitanu, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of One United Properties spoke with Property Forum at Mipim in Cannes about the company’s residential development pipeline valued north of €1 billion and Bucharest’s capacity to provide high yields for real estate investors.

Companies with expiring lease contracts are increasingly preferring renegotiation to move to new premises. One of the reasons is the high office fit-out costs, as the outcome of Cushman & Wakefield’s annual EMEA Fit Out Cost Guide is showing.

As development activity has slowed down, the focus is shifting to managing the existing stock across the whole commercial real estate market. Owners and other stakeholders have to adapt rapidly to serve changing demand from occupiers, said Benjamin Perez Ellischewitz MRICS, Principal at Avison Young in Hungary, while answering Property Forum’s questions at Mipim in Cannes.

Office leasing in Bucharest reached 97,400 sqm in Q1 2024, up 71% compared to the same period of last year, while take-up transactions that cover relocations and new demand were flat year-on-year at 33,000 sqm, according to a CBRE report.

Solida Capital Europe announced the acquisition of the Grójecka 5 office building in the centre of Warsaw, spanning approximately 11,500 gross leasable area. The price has not been disclosed.

Office leasing in regional cities reached 37,441 sqm during 2023, equivalent to 18% of the space leased on the Bucharest market in the same period, according to a Fortim Trusted Advisors report.

Lidl has chosen Apollo Nivy in Bratislava as the location of its head office in Slovakia. The relocation of more than 500 employees of the discount headquarters is planned for December of this year.