According to Savills, the impact of the pandemic is set to accelerate online retail penetration by an average of one year and, in turn, drive demand for prime logistics space in Europe.

A new report from Savills indicates that an integrated omnichannel strategy will lead the way as the European retail sector returns to a new normal.

Germany and Central Eastern Europe (CEE) reported investment turnover growth across commercial real estate in H1 2020, despite the effects of COVID-19 in Q2, according to the latest Savills European Investment Spotlight.

The first half of 2020 was the strongest on record for the warehouse and industrial market in Poland, says Savills. Despite COVID-19 challenges, take-up set an all-time high halfway through the year. In addition, the leasing volume and the amount of new space coming onto the market were higher in Q2 than in the first three months of the year.

Private investment company Cimex Group has appointed Savills as property and leasing manager for its portfolio of twelve properties – ten in Prague, one in Plzen and one in Karlovy Vary – in the Czech Republic, starting August 2020. The total floor area of the buildings is more than 100,000 sqm and the portfolio currently provides premises for more than 500 tenants.

From July 2020, KGAL Investment Management Group GmbH, based in Germany, has appointed Savills as local asset manager for DRN, an office complex on Národní St., Prague 1.

According to Savills, commercial property investment activity hit €2.92 billion across Poland in H1 2020, up by almost 5% on the same period in 2019. Despite COVID-19 challenges, it was the second-best result in the first half of a year on record. Savills anticipates that the pandemic’s impact will be noticeable in H2 2020, but the investment volume is unlikely to fall by more than 20% compared to last year’s all-time high.

What will the Warsaw office market look like in the next 18 months? Experts of Savills have outlined two potential scenarios. Both scenarios foresee a short-term decrease in demand and rising vacancy rates, but with a different scale of impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Polish capital’s office market. Both also forecast that the market will remain resilient in the long term.

Savills has been appointed sole letting agent for office space in Eximius Park, an office complex on the outskirts of Kraków. The buildings of the complex have been upgraded since they changed hands and are now ready to welcome new tenants.

According to Savills, the average spread between prime industrial and prime shopping centre yields across mainland Europe has converged for the first time in its historic series as demand for logistics and soars as a result of increased levels in e-commerce.