The demand for office space in Prague increased by 29% quarter-on-quarter for the first quarter of 2021 and by 44% year-on-year. Although the largest transactions of the quarter were lease renegotiations – including Seznam.cz (14,800 sqm) in Palác Křižík in Prague 5 or MSD Czech Republic (6,800 sqm) in Riverview in Prague 5 – the share of newly leased space increased to 58%. The increase in newly leased and pre-leased space indicates confidence and healthy growth of the Prague office market. Despite the fact that leasing activity posted record numbers, the vacancy rate rose by 60 basis points quarter-on-quarter to 8.4%. JLL recorded an increase in vacancy rates in almost all Prague districts, as announced in the last report.

Unlike logistics and retail assets, office buildings received less damage from the war in Ukraine, but it is still impossible to calculate the exact number of losses or destroyed office space. Iryna Nastych summarised the situation in an article prepared by the Ukrainian Real Estate Club for Property Forum.

As the pandemic-related restrictions have been lifted, large occupiers have returned to the office, most of them in a hybrid setup, while the office lease periods have fallen from 5 to 3 years, according to an analysis of real estate consultancy Crosspoint Real Estate. 

Andrzej Mikołajczyk, Managing Director of CA Immo Poland has answered Property Forum’s questions about the current attractiveness of Polish office assets, the expected supply gap and recent investment transactions.

Property group Globalworth has inked a 6-year green loan deal worth €85 million with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), which is a member of the World Bank.

Immofinanz has finalised the complete modernisation of the Myhive Haller Gardens office building in Budapest. The concept aims to allow tenants to use the community spaces for hosting guests, business meetings, and recreation in addition to their actual function. The reception areas and the gardens around the building are now available to tenants in a new concept and renewed form.

The America House office building in central Bucharest was refurbished as part of a €10 million investment that included the upgrading of the exterior ground floor area and the extension of green spaces. 

Chicago, Houston, New York, San Francisco and Warsaw have over 40% of their total office stock certified ‘green’, making their office markets some of the most environmentally sustainable in the world, according to Savills World Research. But in many major cities there is a significant disconnect between city governments’ ambitious net-zero targets and the green credentials of existing stock.

Increasing costs of energy and construction materials have visibly reinforced the need to think about the carbon footprint of the real estate industry through construction and building efficiencies. Benjamin Perez-Ellischewitz, Principal at Avison Young in Hungary talked to Property Forum about the impacts of the pandemic and the war in Ukraine on the real estate market and shared his thoughts about companies’ evolving approach toward ESG.

Romanians want offices where they have options for networking and interacting both at work and in their free time, a trend that is increasingly visible around the world, according to a survey commissioned by local developer Genesis Property.