There is scepticism in the market regarding the correlation between sustainability and financial performance but it is beneficial to be sustainable if you consider the overall life-cycle of the building, explains Oana Stamatin, ESG Chief Officer | CEE & Romania at Colliers. She talked to Property Forum about the challenges and opportunities owners of real estate face in striving for ESG compliance. 

Maxim Shkolnick, General Partner at CEE-based retail investor Focus Estate Fund talked to Property Forum about recent acquisitions in Poland, the Covid-driven evolution of the retail market and the astonishing popularity of convenience centres among investment funds.

S IMMO has recently made major commitments towards building a fully ESG-compliant office portfolio in Budapest with a large acquisition and an ambitious green energy initiative. Géza Barabas, Country Manager of S IMMO Hungary talked to Property Forum about upcoming investment plans and the company’s ESG strategy for the Hungarian market.

There is a belief that ESG costs money but in fact, the opposite can be true, says Stefan de Goeij, Head of Property Management at Avison Young in the Czech Republic. He talked to Property Forum about compliance, commitment and tackling all the components of ESG in the real estate industry.

Development margins in Poland have been under pressure in recent years which is taking effect in a smaller number of projects under construction with planned occupancy dates in 2022 and 2023. Property Forum talked to Mariusz Frąckiewicz, Country Director at Avestus Real Estate Poland about the post-Covid office market in Poland, the impact of inflation and surging land prices.

Karol Pilniewicz, Chief Investment Officer of Futureal Investment Partners talked to Property Forum about entering the investment market, the condition of the retail sector after two years of pandemic restrictions and current financing conditions.

COVID-19 has significantly changed what clients are looking for across different real estate sectors, including facility management. Libor Holík, CEO of B+N Czech Republic and Slovakia talked to Property Forum about current challenges and opportunities in the facility management business.

Robert Snincak, Head of Investment Operations CEE and Krystian Pachowka, Head of Logistics Asset Management CEE at CBRE Investment Management talked to Property Forum about the current investment trends in CEE countries, the rise of the warehouse and PRS markets in Poland and the recent changes in financing conditions.

The attitude of young Poles towards the concept of property is changing. Property Forum talked to Andrzej Gutowski, Vice President and Sales Director of Ronson Development, another Polish large residential developer, which has recently decided to include PRS apartments in its offer.

2021 was a busy year for Romanian real estate agency Griffes with 44,000 sqm of office space leased, a new project as co-investor and the company’s first international leasing mandate. Andreea Paun, Managing Partner and Founder of Griffes talked to Property Forum about the results of last year and shared the company’s expansion plans for 2022.