Coffee with Craig Show – daily CRE news covering the CEE region, Friday, May 5, with Winston Norman, Editor and Chief of EuropaProperty.com.
ESG concerns and tight occupancy shape Poland’s office landscape
According to AXI IMMO summarizing Q1 on Poland’s office market. In the first quarter of 2023, developers focused on Poland’s regional markets. Kraków, Wrocław, and Tri-City regions received new office deliveries. However, no new office buildings were built in Warsaw. Current interest from tenants remains at a reasonably high level. Demand recorded in Q1 2023 was distributed proportionally to the Warsaw market and regional cities. Tenants attach importance to ESG issues and the comfort of working from the office for their employees. The challenge facing the office sector is rising service charges.
“The demand for office space in Warsaw is high. A large percentage of inquiries comes from Ukrainian companies that have moved their operations to Poland”, comments Bartosz Oleksak, Senior Negotiator, Office Agency, AXI IMMO. “In addition to companies from Ukraine, law firms, accounting and tax companies, and IT companies are also very actively searching for office space.”
Developers postponing their plans, not rushing into speculative construction
The Prague office market has experienced a decline in the construction of new office buildings over the past three quarters of the year, which has also been reflected in a decrease in speculative construction. The quarterly analysis provided by JLL shows that currently 7.5 percent of modern office space in Prague is not occupied. However, there is also a growing supply of subleases.
According to the latest office market research in Prague, the total volume of modern office space reached approximately 3.85 million sqm in Q1 2023. Two office projects were completed. Skanska delivered the PORT7 office project in Prague 7, with a total leasable area of 30,900 sqm. The second completed project was the Red Court office building (7,100 sqm) in Prague 8. Before completion, the building was fully pre-leased by the company Czechoslovak Group.
“We observe that landlords are under more pressure to keep tenants, even at the cost of various concessions or benefits,” comments Milan Kilík, Head of Office Agency at JLL, on the situation of a landlord market.
Panattoni introduces the Head of Asset Dispositions role
Panattoni sees continuing interest from investors: in the first quarter of the year the company completed transactions in Poland worth about €300 million. The developer’s activity has spawned the need for a new position – Head of Asset Disposition – which has been filled by Michal Stanisławski.
In his new position, Michał is responsible for overseeing Panattoni’s dispositions and exit strategy in Poland. Moreover, he is to be the single point of contact for all investors interested in acquiring assets from the company’s portfolio and all their advisors. He also continues to raise capital for the development platform and cooperates closely with Panattoni’s other departments and geographies in the capital markets field.
Hype Colosseum to open entertainment centre in Colosseum Mall
Colosseum Mall in Bucharest announced the signing of a lease agreement with Hype by Kiddo for the opening of an entertainment centre. The Hype Colosseum entertainment centre will have an area of 2,500 sqm including multiple attractions for families with children.
Including a trampoline park, climbing, obstacle course, suspended adventure route, arcade games, slide maze, restaurant and bar, a dedicated party area, and a space for immersive and virtual reality experiences.
The investment in Hype Colosseum is about €1.5 million.
Mihai Dinu, General Manager of Colosseum Mall: “This area of Bucharest has become a magnet for residential project developers, and thus, due to population growth, the need to diversify the products and services offered by the shopping centre is a natural one. Hype Colosseum will undoubtedly become an attraction for both Bucharest residents and visitors from outside the capital.”
Cristina Șucu, Co-Founder of Hype by Kiddo adds: “By 2025, our group will grow with at least 5 more locations in Romania and at least 2 outside the country.”
