Higher construction costs and the unfavourable economic situation in Europe are impacting the future development of new offices in the region, especially in capital cities like Prague, Bratislava, Budapest and Bucharest.

Studio A - Skanska’s latest investment in Warsaw - will contribute 26,600 sqm of office space to the local office market. The building is scheduled to be commissioned in 2025.

Cushman & Wakefield has summarized the third quarter of 2023 on the Polish office market. Office development activity continues to slow down both in Warsaw and in Poland’s regional city markets. Nominal leasing activity remains high in the largest regional cities, with Warsaw reporting a record number of leases.

Co-working space provider WeWork, which was once valued at $47 billion, has been forced to file for a Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US. The filing is set to provide the company with protection from its creditors and landlords as it restructures its vast debts. Based on its latest share price, WeWork is now worth less than $50 million.

Office investor Globalworth has appointed Ema Iftimie as Managing Director for its real estate operations in Romania, replacing Marian Popa, who will step down as of December 1st.

pbb Deutsche Pfandbriefbank has provided a €75 million investment loan facility to a Polish company managed by Macquarie Asset Management on behalf of institutional investors. The loan will be used for the refinancing of the CEDET office building in Warsaw. pbb acted as arranger and sole lender under the facility.

Romanian developer One United Properties has signed a deal with German semiconductors maker Infineon Technologies for the development of a prime office building in northern Bucharest.  

Total investment transactions in Romania’s commercial property sector stood at €62.4 million in Q3 2023, with 32% of the total volume represented by sale-and-leaseback transactions, according to a CBRE report.

The average office transaction in the first nine months of 2023 stood at 1,810 sqm, which is the highest average of the past four years and close to the level of 1,900 sqm recorded in 2019, according to Cushman & Wakefield data.

Slovakia’s economy surpassed expectations in H1 2023 with the automotive industry leading the charge. The industrial sector flourishes with robust take-up and diversified supply and there is also a continuous rise in rents in all submarkets. Resilient take-up but robust new supply caused rising vacancy, stabilized fit-out costs, rising rents and yields. Cushman & Wakefield published its Marketbeat Analysis for Q3 2023.