Some players in the Hungarian commercial property sector have made significant steps to transform the industry, but the majority have failed to do so. Property Forum asked Zsombor Barta, President of the Hungary Green Building Council (HuGBC) about the way the entire industry should act to reach net zero as adopted by the European Union.

Some developers forecast that sales prices will increase in the future purely as a result of the zero-emission requirements currently being placed on buildings but there is no consensus as to what the ultimate effect will be. Robert David, Partner and Tomáš Kren, Senior Associate at Wolf Theiss’ Prague office talked to Property Forum about the increasingly important role ESG compliance plays in real estate transactions and potential regulatory changes that can affect the market.

Negotiators of the Council and the European Parliament reached an agreement aimed at taxing imports based on the greenhouse gas emissions needed to make the products, which would extensively cover the imports of construction materials. 

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is supporting the development of the secondary market for green commercial real estate in CEE with an equity investment of up to €50 million, in partnership with Adventum's Penta real estate fund. The partnership will acquire commercial real-estate assets, which will then undergo upgrades to improve their resource efficiency.

The last two years marked steep growth for the Slovak developer Corwin. With their four new acquisitions, they have grown to be the largest developer in Ljubljana and have sold their flagship project Blumental as one of the largest transactions of the year in Bratislava. In 2022, Corwin also published its first sustainability report.

Residential developers in Poland are aware of the importance of ESG but they feel that their customers are often still focused on the price only. The participants of the ESG panel of Living Investment Forum 2022, held by Property Forum in Warsaw recently, agreed that the legal and financial pressure put on the construction industry may not be enough and there is still a lot to be done in terms of education.

Immofinanz is concentrating on the strategic growth areas of retail properties and myhive office solutions in the current market environment and has sold the rights for joint use of the development concept for sustainable and affordable housing over single-storey buildings to Dietmar Reindl. This innovative residential concept will now be expanded to include implementation by this former Immofinanz Executive Board member under his own flag outside the Immofinanz Group. Immofinanz retains the right to implement the concept on its own properties at any time and remains the owner of the On Top Living brand.

Josef Wiedermann, Managing Director of UBM Development Czechia talked to Property Forum about recent changes, ESG strategies and provided insight into the company’s ambitious plans for becoming the largest developer of timber buildings in Europe.

The green logistics complex VisionPark in Bratislava received the permit for construction at the end of August. The permit is for three halls with 16,000 sqm area. The developer of the new logistics park based on sustainable principles is DOAS and the leasing agent is 108 Agency Slovakia.

JLL has introduced a seven-person international Sustainability Services and ESG team. The team will focus on consultancy in both topics due to the constantly rising demand for sustainability services in the real estate sector.