There is an ongoing mentality shift in the property industry which not just about technology, proptech guru James Dearsley revealed at the largest event on the Hungarian property market. Over 700 participants and nearly 100 speakers gathered at the 13th Portfolio Property Investment Forum in Budapest which focused on the future of real estate.

Sevdelina Petrova MRICS (Bulgaria) and Maja Ostanek MRICS (Slovenia) were awarded the Chris H. Bennett Memorial Prize. The awards were handed out at the Portfolio Property Investment Forum conference in Budapest, where the achievements of several big players of the Hungarian property market were also acknowledged.

Aberdeen Asset Management has sold the King Cross shopping centre in Zagreb to SES Spar European Shopping Centers. The transaction price has not been disclosed.

Granit Polus is about to transform the most valuable plot of land in Budapest by a large-scale mixed-use development. The new district will host office buildings, retail units, residential areas and hotels.

BPO/SSC take-up totalled over 60% of all-sector office take-up in 4 key BPO cities (Wroclaw, Lodz, Krakow and Sofia) in H1 2017. Vacant stock is diminishing, due to this demand impulse and strong general economic conditions. Labour availability and employee tech knowhow uplift are significant factors which influence the demand for space, according to a report by Colliers International. The key findings of the report include:

RICS presented its new Board of Members in the Czech Republic, who will operate under the chairmanship of William Bucknell MRICS, Managing Director of Flow East Real Estate, one of the largest private investors in the Czech Republic.

TK Development has received the construction permit for building Outlet Arena Moravia. It will rise in the vicinity of the centre of Ostrava, lying immediately adjacent to the D1 Motorway, on a vacant lot in Hlucinska Street (in the proximity of two traffic arteries, with approximately 60,000 vehicles passing every day).

Cushman & Wakefield signed a strategic partnership agreement with Polish start-up ShareSpace, recognizing the rapid growth of modern coworking office space for start-ups and SMEs, and changing office lease preferences of large corporations. Both partners will work together to further their expansion and promote technological and commercial solutions for flexible office leases.

NEPI Rockcastle’s wholly-owned subsidiary, NEPC has priced a €500 million unsecured 7 year Eurobond maturing on 23 November 2024, carrying a 1.75% fixed coupon, with an issue price of 99.051%. At this level, the book was oversubscribed. S&P and Fitch assigned the Bond a BBB rating, in line with the corporate rating.

Panattoni Europe has completed the construction of another e-commerce logistics centre for Amazon. The facility with total useful floor area of 161,500 sqm was erected in Kołbaskowo, near Szczecin. More than 3,000 robots have been put in place to support the employees, using Amazon Robotics technology. The investment was developed to comply with the requirements of BREEAM environmental certification.