The Warsaw office market recorded the second highest demand in the market's history along with record-breaking net absorption. This perfectly summarizes the sentiments on the city's office market. Furthermore, expectations for 2018 remain highly favourable, JLL reports.

At ca. €12.98 billion, 2017 recorded a 3.3% increase over 2016 (€12.56 billion) and, for the second year running, set a new record transaction volume for the CEE region. JLL has registered continued appetite from investors for the full range of assets across the entire region.

Demand for flexible workspace across the world saw record growth in 2017, according to the latest research from Cushman & Wakefield. The firm’s Co-working 2018 report reveals the extent to which the sector has evolved and matured with the UK leading the way globally.

ZFP Investments, the Czech-based subsidiary of Slovak IAD Investments, has concluded the acquisition of the Kotlarska 11 office building in Kraków on behalf of ZFP Real Estate Fund. This marks the investor’s entry into the Polish market.

Class A office buildings in the downtown areas of Gdańsk and Gdynia will finally become available for lease, complementing office provision on the outskirts of the Tricity agglomeration. Tenants are likely to move to new headquarters in more prestigious locations, says Michał Rafałowicz, Head for the Pomeranian Region at advisory firm Cresa Poland.

Union Investment has secured the future Holiday Inn Gdansk City Centre hotel at an early stage by way of a forward purchase agreement. The hotel will have 240 rooms and be located on Gdańsk’s historic Granary Island. Completion and the transfer of rights and obligations are scheduled for mid-2019. The project has been acquired for the portfolio of one of Union Investment’s institutional funds.

Panattoni Europe has started the construction of the first logistics centre in Białystok. The developer’s new project – Panattoni Park Białystok – featuring roughly 40,600 sqm, is being executed in full. 50% of the space has already been commercialised. Completion of construction works on the entire investment is planned for the end of Q3 2018.

Colliers International has strengthened its management structure in Poland. In recognition of their business achievements and contribution to building company value, all nine of Colliers’ Partners in Poland will now be referred to as Senior Partners, which is a newly created position.

Skanska’s commercial development business unit in Central Eastern Europe will be the first developer worldwide to cover office buildings with semi-transparent perovskite solar cells on a commercial scale. Saule Technologies will be the technology provider. The initial implementation tests are planned for 2018 in Poland.

PRO-LOG has decided to extend the lease of 15,000 square meters of warehouse space in the MLP Pruszków I park. At the same time PRO-LOG decided to increase its warehouse space by additional 5,000 square meters to 20,000 square meters in total. All the facilities will be equipped with state-of-the-art LED lighting.