Coffee with Craig Show – daily CRE news covering the CEE region, Friday, June 24 with Winston Norman, Editor and chief of EuropaProperty.com.
Community and urban driven expertise to shape the future of real estate
Affordable housing is one of the biggest challenges that the market is facing right now, fueled by growing interest rates and inflation. Cities need urban regeneration to provide thriving neighbourhoods and this needs to happen in close cooperation between the public and private sectors – concluded local and international experts gathered at the Urban Land Institute (ULI) Poland Conference: REINVENTING NEIGHBOURHOODS.
“We need to reinvent the neighbourhoods and make the urban footprint better for the people, in collaboration between public and private sectors and not forgetting the net-zero challenges,” said Soren Rodian Olsen, Managing Director of Logicenters at NREP and Chair of ULI Poland in his welcome.
“It seems like we are moving from one crisis into another, but at the same time we cannot lose sight of the long-term perspective and of the day-to-day perspective,” agreed Lisette van Doorn, Chief Executive Officer, ULI Europe.
Marco Dall’Orso, the renowned urban regeneration expert, shared his experiences in the opening keynote presentation: “Studying the past is important because cities follow trajectories that can lead to prosperity or poverty..”
Jens Krammer Mikkelsen, Director of Urban Development at NREP and former Lord Mayor of Copenhagen, presented the steps of transformation of the capital of Denmark, “Transforming the city is not a quick fix but a long haul.”
Patrizia completes first close of new €100 million sustainable future ventures VC fund
PATRIZIA AG has completed the first close of a new €100 million venture capital fund “Sustainable Future Ventures” (SFV). The initial close includes funds from a range of investors including pension funds and family offices, as well as strategic real estate operators and investors.
Wolfgang Egger, CEO and Founder of PATRIZIA, said: “Reducing our carbon footprint in construction and real estate is the biggest challenge of our time, so funding the companies that are at the cutting edge of sustainable innovation is absolutely essential.”
The newly launched fund will target investment in technology companies that enable a more sustainable built environment and will focus on late Seed to Series B technology companies globally, with a strong focus on Europe.
Czech Republic has the second-highest fit out costs in CEE
According to Cushman & Wakefield, in the comparison of 26 European cities, Prague placed second in the CEE region in terms of the price of fitting out an office. Still, with €1,000 being the average cost per square metre in Prague, it is half of what is standard in top German cities or in the UK where the average cost exceeds €2,000.
Glyn Evans, Head of Design + Build EMEA, Cushman & Wakefield, commented: “Fit-out costs are an integral part of the decision-making process, affecting a company’s planning and budgeting. As these – along with staff costs and rents – need to be factored in in the early stages of these strategic decisions, we’ve considered and compared top European locations to guide occupiers through defining their office relocation budgets.”
With occupancy still exceeding 90 percent in Q1 2022, the Prague office market is a healthy one, with many companies relocating, expanding or downsizing – which means re-fitting their offices.