Last year was a demanding period for the office market and a test for us, which we managed to successfully pass, says Katarzyna Zawodna-Bijoch, President and CEO at Skanska’s commercial development business unit in Central & Eastern Europe (CEE). In 2022, we will witness safe and futureproof workplaces, new technologies as well as Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) areas becoming increasingly important, with the latter being subject to continuous intensive analyses as a business trend.

Skanska has sold two office projects in Poland to Stena Real Estate BV, an international property company that is part of the privately owned Swedish Stena Group. The first phase of the Centrum Południe complex in Wroclaw, consisting of two joint office buildings, and the last building of the High5ive complex in Krakow, comprises 39,400 sqm of office space. The projects are designed and built in line with ESG principles. It is the second transaction between the two parties in CEE since the second building from the Spark office complex in Warsaw was acquired in 2020.

HANSAINVEST Real Assets has acquired Generation Park Y, the last building of the Generation Park office complex in Warsaw. The transaction volume is €285 million, which makes it the largest office sale in the history of Skanska’s commercial development business unit in CEE and at the same time the largest sale in the office sector in CEE in 2021. Generation Park Y is HANSAINVEST Real Assets’ fourth acquisition from Skanska. 

Skanska aims to cut its emissions by 70% as early as 2030, while more investors are looking for ESG-compliant projects in CEE, Skanska’s Adam Targowski, Environmental Director, Center of Excellence and Aurelia Luca, Executive Vice President Operations Hungary and Romania tell Property Forum in an interview.

Skanska has started the construction of the first stage of the NU! Warszawa Wola, comprising 145 apartments. The completion of the investment is scheduled for the last quarter of 2023.

Generation Park Y, developed by Skanska in Warsaw’s Wola district, has been awarded the LEED Core & Shell certificate at the Platinum level - an international system of building assessment for energy savings and reduction of water consumption. Consequently, it has an impact on reducing carbon dioxide emissions.

Among four countries – Poland, Romania, Czech Republic, and Hungary, more than half of respondents claimed they work only from the office (52%), according to a survey conducted by Skanska's commercial development business unit in CEE. The number of such office workers increased compared to May 2021, especially in the Czech Republic and Poland. ​The preferred work model has not changed much since then, but in the Czech Republic more people want to work only from the office (22% vs 17% in May 2021).  

Property developer Skanska and Holcim Romania Group, the producer of building materials, have announced a strategic collaboration that aims to accelerate the transition to a greener built environment. 

The Generation Park Y office building in Warsaw has been awarded the WELL Health-Safety Rating certificate. It is the tenth project of Skanska’s commercial development business unit in CEE region that has been awarded with such a distinction. 

The office sector accounted for 66% of total investment volumes recorded in Romania’s commercial real estate sector in the first semester. Deals worth close to €290 were closed in the first half, down 41% year-on-year, according to a report by real estate consultancy Colliers.