Avison Young has significantly increased its CEE presence in recent months and the company is planning further expansion. Gerry Hughes, Principal and President of Avison Young Europe talked to Property Forum about the firm’s strategy for CEE and shared his expectations regarding the future of the advisory business.

Between January and March 2021, nearly 93,000 sqm of retail stock was delivered in Poland, a result comparable to the same period last year. The structure of new supply included only two large-scale formats: stand-alone retail warehouses (55% of new space) and retail parks (31%). Convenience centres claimed the remaining 14%. The largest scheme delivered was an Agata Meble store (11,000 sqm) in Jelenia Góra. JLL summarised the conditions on Poland’s retail market at the end of the first quarter of 2021.

In light of the pandemic, HB Reavis is reassessing its approach to divestments. Peter Pecnik, Poland Country CEO and Group CFO of HB Reavis talked to Property Forum about COVID-19’s impact on the Polish office market and also shared details about the company’s financing strategy.

Some companies are choosing to relocate production plants from Asia to Poland to diversify business activity and shorten supply chains. On the other hand, western firms are setting up factories in Poland to bring operating costs down and take advantage of a range of benefits with which individual regions want to attract investors, say experts from Cresa Poland.

Work has begun on the construction of Panattoni Park Wrocław West Gate, which will eventually have an area of around 47,000 sqm. The park’s first tenant will be Schumacher Packaging – a producer of cardboard packaging (including corrugated), which in September is to occupy 5,670 sqm.

Today, global investment capital, looking for safe options on the real estate markets, focuses on housing. Poland is the target of the largest global companies investing in the PRS sector, says advisory company Walter Herz.

M7 Real Estate, on behalf of its M7 CEREF II Fund, acquired two urban logistics schemes from 7R. Avison Young represented the seller as the exclusive agent throughout the transaction.

The topping-out ceremony has taken place for the .KTW II office building in Katowice, which at 133 metres is the tallest building in the Silesian conurbation.

Dariusz Grzeszczak, CEO of Erbud, one of the largest construction groups in Poland talked to Property Forum about new contracts under pandemic-related circumstances, the situation on the labour market and the future of wooden modular construction.

FMCG discounters have been going from strength to strength throughout Poland in recent years and have attracted growing levels of consumer interest amid the pandemic. What are the growth opportunities for this sector? Jakub Sadowski from Cushman & Wakefield talks about the direction discount retailers are now heading in.