In 2017, Tricity’s office space absorption hit a record high of 79,400 sqm, compared to the five-year average of more than 58,000 sqm. Leasing conditions in the region hold stable, says tenant-only real estate advisory firm Cresa.

Retail and hotel sectors recorded highest investment volumes in the Croatian commercial property market in 2017. According to information available and Colliers’s estimate, 2017 brought more than €320 million investment in transactions of 22 investment properties. This does not include pending transactions or confidential deals.

One of the fastest growing co-working chains has announced its entry into the Czech market. Business Link, hosted by Skanska, will open its first location in Prague in July of this year. At the Visionary office building located in Prague 7, the company will offer around 4,700 sqm of co-working space, including space for approx. 100 people, 159 private offices, and five conference rooms.

According to “Occupier Economics: Office Market in Wrocław in 2017”, a report prepared by Cresa, last year’s office supply in Wrocław was the lowest in six years while occupier demand remained robust. The city’s office take-up hit 174,500 sqm, which represented a 40% increase compared with 2016.

Poland has seen record-breaking absorption on the office market. In the last year alone, companies occupied additional 800,000 sqm of office space. This translates into more than 80,000 additional job positions in modern office buildings, JLL reports.

Exchange Palace the former Budapest Stock Exchange building co-owned by Canadian developer Tippin Corporation and Luxembourg Optimum Fund Management, has received a final building permit and will commence reconstruction works in 2018. The owners appointed JLL & CBRE appointed as co-exclusive leasing agents.

Futureal Group signed a credit agreement of €34.2 million with K&H Bank in order to finance the realization of the Advance Tower office building located in Budapest, Hungary. The first phase of the office complex, receiving the international WELL Building Platinum Precertification, is expected to be handed over in the second quarter of 2018.

First Property Group unveiled its development plans at the Krakow Business Park (KBP) in Zabierzow, Krakow, which are focused on improving and repositioning the park to drive visitors and investment to it and the local area. This follows First Property Group’s acquisition of the park’s principal operating companies and the agreement of heads of terms for their refinancing with Pekao Bank SA.

Skanska has commenced construction works of the second office building in its Nowy Rynek complex, developed in Poznan in close proximity to both Dworzec Glowny railway station and Poznan's Old Town. Ultimately, the area of 3.8 ha will include buildings with various functions, an urban market which will be open to the public, and other areas that will promote recreation and entertainment.

GalCap Europe, a Vienna-based international investment and asset management company, acquired the Central Udvar mixed-use complex as its second property after the Merkur Palota in Budapest. The purchase was made on behalf of a separate account for a German pension scheme, administered by Institutional Investment Partners. CBRE has advised GalCap Europe to purchase the building in an off-market deal. The buyer and the seller agreed not to disclose any purchase price details. Legal advice to GalCap Europe was provided by CHSH Dezső & Partner.