As a response to continued strong demand from tenants in Budapest and Bucharest, Skanska plans to launch several new projects in both capital cities. Marcin Łapiński, Managing Director for Hungary and Romania talked to Property Forum about the differences between the two markets.

Forte Partners have inaugurated the first phase of The Bridge office project located in the Grozavesti-Basarab area in Bucharest. The first building offers 36,871 sqm of leasable space. Its tenants include IBM and BCR. The first phase of the project was financed by UniCredit Bank. Bog’Art was the main construction contractor.

CPI Property Group acquired three hotel properties in the Czech Republic and Hungary: a historical building in Český Krumlov, an existing hotel in Olomouc and an office building adjacent to a hotel in Budapest.

Shopping centres of the future will become just ‘centres’ and will reinvent themselves as mixed-use destinations. Healthcare, educational and leisure facilities will all become a fundamental part of the shopping centre, according to new insights from the Future of Retail 2030, by CBRE.

CPI Property Group has begun work on the Mayhouse office building, offering 7700 square metres of modern office space from the first half of 2019. The building fills a vacant plot in the Prague district of Pankrác with views to Prague Castle.

GTC has signed a €60 million refinancing and investment loan with Raiffeisen Bank International AG for the refinancing of Green Heart, its new office project in Serbia. The office park has already reached a prelease level of 42%.

The Board of Directors of TK Development has decided that going forward, property development activities will be confined to the Danish and Swedish markets, and the activities in Poland will be divested.

London is currently Europe’s leading financial and banking services hub, but it may lose some of its appeal for businesses targeting the European Union following Brexit. Some financial institutions will move their operations outside the UK. Frankfurt and Paris will definitely benefit, but Warsaw is also one of the contenders. Bolesław Kołodziejczyk, PhD, Head of Research & Advisory, Cresa Poland analysed the potential impact of the UK’s departure from the European Union on the Polish market.

Hong Kong has replaced London’s West End as the most expensive office market in which to accommodate staff, according to new research from Cushman & Wakefield. At a global level, the average annual cost per workstation rose by 1.5% over the last 12 months. Workplace density – the number of workers within a given space – has also increased in 2017.

Panattoni Europe is to build a factory for Ontex, a Belgian producer of personal hygiene products. The facility featuring in excess of 26,000 sqm will be located in Radomsko, within the Łódź Special Economic Zone (ŁSSE). Construction works are about to begin in early December and are scheduled to end in July 2018.