Cushman & Wakefield has published a summary of the first quarter of 2018 on Poland’s regional office markets. Following the record-breaking performance in 2017, the total office stock of regional cities rose by 3% q/q by the end of Q1 2018 to 4.5 million sqm. The average vacancy rate for the regional markets was down 0.6 p.p. at 9.3%. The largest concentration of development activity is in Wrocław and Krakow.

MAX Immo has been appointed as an exclusive partner for the leasing of City Palais building situated in Prague’s “Golden Cross”. Redevco, the owner of City Palais commissioned MAX Immo to secure the leasing. The building provides office, retail and residential space on an area of 7,500 square metres.

Sofia-based Lion's Head Investments, a wholly owned subsidiary of local AG Capital, has asked for the Bulgarian competition regulator’s approval to acquire Megapark business centre in the capital.

CPI Property Group announced the acquisition of Atrium Centrum & Atrium Plaza office buildings in Warsaw, Poland. Atrium Centrum & Atrium Plaza are seven-storey office buildings located in the centre of Warsaw. The two office buildings have an aggregate GLA of 31,869 sqm and include a medical centre, a restaurant, a bank, a pharmacy, a premium fashion store and 410 parking lots. CPIPG worked directly with the seller, which was a fund under the management of Peakside Capital Advisors.

LC Corp Group has chosen Knight Frank to be the property manager of Retro Office House in Wrocław. Completed at the end of March, the office building offers a leasable area of 20,700 sqm and has already been rented out almost in its entirety.

The key catalyst behind the further growth of Poland’s regional office markets is the BSS sector, which is increasingly expanding into smaller cities as tenants continue looking for attractive alternatives outside Warsaw. This is benefiting such locations as Krakow, Wrocław and Tricity and all the regional markets are seeing multiple modern office projects underway in response to the growing occupier demand.

Siemens CR and CPI PG announced that they signed an agreement to extend the lease and complete a total renovation of City West office buildings in Prague - Stodůlky, where Siemens CR headquarters have been located since 2010. The contract has been extended until 2027 and will undergo extensive modernisation of offices, common areas, parking spaces and specific outdoor areas. The common goal is to improve and beautify the employee work environment, reflecting Siemens' development needs within its headquarters in the Czech Republic.

On May 29th, 2018, Budapest’s Ericsson House was officially handed over. This new building, developed by Wing, features not only offices but also one of the Swedish company’s largest European Research & Development centres. The 24,000 sqm property, built in the first phase of the development project of the Hungarian Nobel-Prize Winners’ R&D Park, satisfies both the needs of today and tomorrow due to its cutting-edge technology and execution. As shown by its LEED Gold certification it upholds the highest standards of environmental consciousness. The new HQ will house 1800 workers. Now, with the handover of the Ericsson House, the development of the adjacent site may commence as the second phase of the project.

Nordea, Infosys, Fujitsu and Harman opened offices in Łódź a long time ago. Other firms are now following in their footsteps. Commerz Systems recently announced its entry into the Łódź market, says Marta Pyziak, Head of the Łódź Office of Cresa Poland.

Globalworth announced the acquisition of West Link, a recently completed office property in Wroclaw, by Globalworth Poland. West Link is located to the west of the city centre and is well situated on Wroclaw's key communication arteries. It offers 14,400 sqm gross leasable area and occupancy of 100%, with an annual contracted rental income of €2.5 million and a weighted average lease length in excess of 6 years. The main tenant is Nokia Solutions & Network, which is also the main tenant at GPRE's West Gate, an adjacent high-quality office property which comprises a further 16,600 sqm.