The pandemic brings a substantial evolution rather than a catalyst for a revolution. It accelerates ongoing changes in real estate strategies that otherwise would have taken years to implement, says Arkadiusz Rudzki, Executive Vice President of Leasing & Sales at Skanska office development in CEE, who shared his thoughts on workplace trends with Property Forum.

Although the COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly changed the model of work around the world, attitudes on this matter are still visibly evolving – since the first wave of the lockdown until today the number of people working only from the office has increased by 26%. Almost half of employees go to the office every day, despite over 60% of respondents claiming that they do have comfortable working conditions at home. Employees in all surveyed countries indicated the ability to maintain a work-life balance and have direct conversations with co-workers as the biggest advantages of working in the office. These are only some of the conclusions drawn from a study conducted on behalf of Skanska office development unit in CEE.

Generation Park Y, the tallest Skanska office building in this part of Europe, located at Rondo Daszyńskiego in Warsaw, has just received the occupancy permit. According to the developer, this 140-meter-high building is the greenest skyscraper in the capital and  it will be the new headquarters of PZU Group providing workplaces for a few thousands of the company's employees.

Skanska has announced changes in the leadership team of its commercial development business unit in the Czech Republic and Hungary. Alexandra Tomášková stepped down from the role of EVP Operations for Hungary and the Czech Republic and is currently on a 2-month sabbatical. She is considering another role in the organization.

The pandemic has affected all economic sectors, and the real estate market is no exception. However, Skanska Romania ended the first year of the pandemic with the sale of two buildings in the Campus 6 project in Bucharest for €97 million, one of the largest transactions on the market. Aurelia Luca, EVP Operations Hungary and Romania at Skanska talked to Property Forum about the company's operations in Romania.

Skanska’s has commenced construction on its new project in Prague’s Holešovice district. Based on an architectural design by the DAM.architekti studio, Port7 will include 3 new administrative buildings, which upon planned completion in the second quarter of 2023 will offer 35,000 sqm of office and retail space.

Skanska invests €45 million in the second phase of the Equilibrium project in Bucharest, the company announced.

Skanska has signed a lease agreement with Polish e-commerce platform Allegro for about 26,000 sqm of office space and 177 parking lots in the third office building in the Nowy Rynek mixed-use project in Poznań, Poland. The tenant will move in in Q2 2021. With this lease, the building is now 87% occupied.

Skanska has sold the Parkview office building in Prague to Deka Immobilien for €77 million. This is the second transaction between both parties in the last twelve months, which follows the acquisition of Generation Park Z in Warsaw last year.

S Immo AG has purchased two properties of the Campus 6 business park in Bucharest from developer Skanska with a total investment volume of €97 million. The two buildings have a total leasable area of nearly 38,000 square metres and both are fully let. Key tenants are Microsoft and Société Générale.