Offices might become hotels, hotels can be converted into apartment buildings and warehouses may serve as retail centres. But location, revenue-generating capacity and environmental considerations are the most important factors in converting successfully an existing commercial property, say experts of Hungarian developer Wing. Ernő Takács, Deputy CEO, responsible for hotels and retail at Wing and Chairman of the Association of Hungarian Property Developers and Gábor Angel, Deputy CEO, responsible for offices at Wing, talked to Property Forum about the challenges of changing the use of a property.

High demand and a lack of new projects have caused Prague's office vacancy rate to fall. It currently stands at 7.26%. The volume of new construction and refurbishments accounted for approximately 143,600 sqm at the end of Q2 2023, and the total market size was 3.85 million sqm. Benchmark rental prices did not change from the previous quarter; however, the price of office fit-out (equipping them with necessary features) is increasing due to ESG and modern standards. Such outlays can easily exceed €1,000 per sqm, according to a survey conducted by Colliers. 

Andrei Văcaru, Head of Capital Markets CEE at iO Partners, spoke to Property Forum about the volume of local real estate investments in 2023 and Romania’s ability to attract more institutional investors in various sectors.

Austrian company CA Immo has concluded a long-term lease agreement for approx. 8,000 sqm of office space in Millennium Tower I, situated in the Millennium City Center, a large complex just off the river Danube. Cushman & Wakefield and Newmark VLK acted as agents and advisors on the deal.

The yield shift began in Hungary with a bit of a delay compared to the regional countries, where repricing has already become evident. Office maintains its dominance but investors have started to see retail assets as more attractive than before, says Attila Balogh, Head of Capital Markets at Hungarian property advisor firm Eston International.

Costin Nistor, Managing Director of Fortim Trusted Advisors, spoke to Property Forum about the real estate agency’s plans for 2023, the outlook for the regional real estate market and the growing role of the ESG agenda for the office and soon the residential sector.

The Prague office market proved its stability with a total modern office stock surpassing 3.85 million sqm by the end of Q2 2023. Despite no new office buildings being completed this quarter, ongoing construction projects are poised to add approximately 66,800 sqm of office space across seven projects by year-end. In tandem, the market is embracing the evolving demand for flexible workspace solutions, with four new flexible office centres inaugurated during this quarter, iO Partners reports.

In the second quarter of 2023, the total office stock in Bratislava represented 2.02 million sqm, unchanged from Q1 2023. 17% of total stock consists of class A+ office space, 38% of A class, and 45% of class B office space, reports the Bratislava Research Forum. 

Bratislava's downtown has a new tall building. The Mill, by developer Immocap, is nearing completion and recently took down the scaffolding to reveal the final form of the high-rise project, real estate website yimba.sk reports.

Developer J&T Real Estate is currently completing the Eurovea II project in Bratislava and the new multifunctional Ganz House project could soon be underway too, real estate website yimba.sk reports.