Previous optimism over the prospect of the construction market in the Southeast European region is gone, the Eastern European Construction Forecasting Association (EECFA) reports. The current forecast is foreshadowing almost no growth until 2023 and contraction in 2024. The main reason behind is the worsening climate for construction due to the consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

IHG continues the expansion of its luxury & lifestyle growth in Europe with InterContinental Tirana set to open in 2025.

Equinox Nepremičnine d.d., the first public limited company on the Ljubljana Stock Exchange to engage in real estate leasing and development, has just negotiated a strategic 20-year lease on Grand Hotel Union, uHotel and Hotel Lev in Ljubljana. The deal was signed with world-renowned Hotusa Group, for a cumulative rent exceeding €110 million. The operator search was exclusively organised by Cushman & Wakefield.  

Slovak developer Corwin has announced that its office projects in Bratislava and Ljubljana will soon join the list of LEED Zero Carbon certified carbon neutral buildings of which there are only 8 in existence at the moment.

Radisson Hotel Group announced the debut of its luxury lifestyle Radisson Collection brand in Croatia, with the opening of Grand Hotel Brioni Pula, A Radisson Collection Hotel. This follows an extensive £30 million repositioning of the legendary Hotel Brioni, one of Croatia’s best-known hotels, by Radisson Hotel Group’s partner PPHE Hotel Group and its Croatian subsidiary Arena Hospitality Group.

Kuehne+Nagel Global Services has leased 9,000 square meters at the Airport City Belgrade Business Park, in a transaction brokered by the consulting company Coreside Savills.

David Ebbrell, CEO and Mirta Ceranac Poljak, Managing Director for Croatia at M7 Real Estate talked to Property Forum at MIPIM about investment strategy, economic challenges and opportunities for sustainable growth.

According to Yasen Georgiev from EPI, EECFA Bulgaria, like elsewhere in the EECFA countries that are not directly impacted by the war in Ukraine, the construction market in Bulgaria entered a period of an increasing unpredictability. What stands behind is an interplay between domestic and external factors.

The city of Ljubljana is expected to see some major urban change by 2025. As it was announced last month, a huge mixed-use project will be built next to the city’s planned new transportation hub, including a hotel, a shopping centre, offices and apartments. The Emonika project, which has a long history, will be developed by Mendota Invest, owned by Hungary’s OTP Real Estate Investment Fund. Property Forum summarised what we know about the project so far and how it could potentially transform Slovenia’s small and illiquid commercial real estate market.

Serbia’s construction market was booming when the economic and geopolitical situation changed, so the complicating circumstances in the world are stifling the potential growth and slowing down the ongoing recovery. Inflationary pressures have exploded with the start of the war in Ukraine and the effects of the current crisis are still unforeseeable, writes Dejan Krajinović from Beobuild Core d.o.o. for EECFA Serbia.