The Czech industrial & logistics real estate market has changed beyond all recognition over the past five years, with the total stock of logistics and warehouse space rising 66% over the period, driven by strong growth in e-commerce and retail, according to Colliers International’s latest Czech Industrial & Logistics Market Barometer.

In the past 18 months, three major Chinese logistics providers leased almost 100,000 sqm of new warehouse premises, one of them being 68,000 sqm leasing agreement in VGP Park Jeneč signed by the company 4PX Express (logistics operator of Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba). This transaction ranks among the largest single industrial transactions of this year. Chinese concentration on the Czech market is expected to continue as there are several other major transactions currently underway.

Labour force is the key factor for auto player’s location decision-making process - says Colliers International in its latest research. The auto producers and component suppliers sector is very important in CEE industrial and is growing. Auto exports ranged from 4.7% of total exports in 2015 in Bulgaria, upwards to 28.0% in Hungary and 34.6% in Slovakia, growing at a regionally-weighted annual rate of 7.4% in the period 2010-2015.

According to Property Forum’s survey, real estate professionals in CEE are not afraid of future technologies and they think that just because the way we work is changing that doesn’t mean that we will need less office space in the future.

Central Poland, Prague and Bucharest are among the most desirable logistics locations in Europe, according to a new research by Prologis that examines why logistics customers in Europe choose certain locations over others.

Investors are increasingly looking at Polish regional cities such as Krakow, Wroclaw, Lodz, Poznan, Tricity and Katowice, says Colliers International in its latest research report.

Central and Eastern European cities have further increased their presence at the largest property event in Europe. Investment markets are booming and this is clearly visible when looking around the stands of Hungarian, Polish, Czech and Romanian cities. Our takeaway from CEE themed panel discussions at Expo Real.

In line with the current accounting standards, commercial real estate leases and operating leases do not have be treated as long-term liabilities. They are very often held off-balance sheet or only partially disclosed as short-term liabilities. As a result, businesses, including the largest listed companies reporting in accord-ance with the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), are required solely to include upcoming operating lease instalments and rental payments in their balance sheets. This, however, will change as of 1 January 2019. Bolesław Kołodziejczyk, PhD, Head of Research & Advisory at Cresa Poland analysed the impacts of IFRS 16.

The rapid growth of e-commerce will completely transform the retail market within the next few years. Shopping centres will need to adapt to changing consumer needs in order to stay in business but experts believe that many will not survive. Booming online sales, on the other hand, present a great opportunity for further growth in logistics. Members of the retail panel at CEE Property Forum, moderated by Andreas Ridder, Chairman CEE at CBRE, discussed the future of the business.

Tenants in 2017 are looking for a lot more than four walls and a couple of cubicles. Developers and the owners of older schemes will need to adapt to the changing needs of occupiers in order to stay in the race. Our panel of tenants, landlords, developers and advisors at CEE Property Forum 2017 talked about what makes an office attractive in 2017 and what it will take to secure new leases and keep existing tenants happy in the years to come.