After the excellent results recorded in 2017, Warsaw's office market continued performing well in Q1 2018. Vacancy rates are decreasing while demand stands at 202,000 sqm. 770,000 sqm of office space is under construction. There is also a growing demand for flexible space, and state-of-the-art technological solutions. JLL summarised the situation on the Warsaw office market at the end of Q1 2018.

Orbis Group, the Eastern European partner of AccorHotels, has officially opened its first three-star ibis Styles hotel in Romania, in the city of Arad, together with its local partner and investor FAB Industry.

Gross take-up (including renegotiations and subleases) on the Prague office market in the first quarter of 2018 amounted to 85,700 sqm, representing a decrease of 51% compared to the previous quarter and a decrease of 19% in year-on-year comparison. The Prague Research Forum announced the office market figures for Q1 2018.

Prologis announced the launch of construction of Prologis Park Brno, a new logistics park in the Czech Republic, with the first speculative development of 27,860 square metres. The building is scheduled to be completed in the third quarter of 2018.

Wing Zrt. will develop an international flight training centre fully tailored to Wizz Air’s needs in the scope of a one-of-a-kind project in close proximity to Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport. The facility will be the largest flight training centre in Hungary, and one of the most modern in the Central and Eastern European region. The 3800 square metre building will accommodate three flight deck simulators (two of them full-motion simulators) and a complete aircraft fuselage with passenger compartment (allowing the budget airline’s crew to run cabin crew training). After signing a long-term lease agreement, construction began in February. The building’s structure has been built, and delivery is scheduled for the end of the year. This is the second significant development project that Wing has undertaken in the vicinity of the airport in just a short time. The ibis Styles Budapest Airport – also developed by Wing – was inaugurated in January.

The construction of the €40.4 million (HRK 300 million) Matrix Office Park in Zagreb, Polish real estate developer GTC’s newest project in Croatia, will be completed by 2019, local media reports.

Warimpex Finanz- und Beteiligungs AG announced the purchase of the B52 Office building in Budapest for an undisclosed price. The transaction was signed on 20 April 2018 and will be closed before the end of the second quarter. The seller is CCE Investment Kft., the investment arm of the prominent real estate investor and development company ConvergenCE.

The Polish government’s bill on supporting new investments will introduce new regulations on state aid and operation of Special Economic Zones (SEZs). It is estimated that the proposed amendments will attract more than PLN 2.5 billion worth of investments in the first year of the new regulations being in force and result in 200,000 new jobs created within ten years. Michał Rafałowicz, Head of the Pomeranian Region at Cresa Poland analysed the impact of the new SEZ act.

JLL has been selected by Immofinanz as the property manager of the Park Postępu office complex in Warsaw. JLL took over management of the building on 1st April 2018.

Cushman & Wakefield has published a report on the impact of autonomous vehicles on commercial real estate. Ongoing urbanization combined with increasing demand for goods and people to be moved in mass means that mobility now matters more than ever, says the report.