Cushman & Wakefield has promoted Radka Novak from CEE head of office to international partner.
In the new role, one of Novak’s main priorities will be to develop cooperation with joint regional clients, both tenants and property portfolio owners.
Another of Novak’s aims will be to unite the quality of provided services and reporting in the CEE office market, combine experience from individual countries, and set up operations and processes to shape a single, strong region.
The future of offices in the region remains uncertain due to the pandemic raising fundamental questions of how and where work happens.
Strong performance
According to a report by JLL, In Poland, the office sector recorded a strong Q1, but it decreased in Q2, resulting in a 40% decline in H1 2021 compared to H1 2020. In the Czech Republic, the office sector was the most dominant in Q1 and represented 55% of the investment volume with the largest transaction of Parkview in Prague 4 of €77 mln.
In Hungary, the strongest activity was recorded in the office asset class, generating ca. 80% of the half-yearly volume totalling circa €500 mln – the strongest half-yearly volume on record.
In Romania, all transactions that started during the pandemic were closed in H1 2021, and the number of deals increased, dominating the office sector, which generated almost 64% of all transactions. Slovakia noted the second-best H1 result in the total investment volume of an estimated €538 mln (including land).
Capital outlook
In Prague, leasing activity remains stable, even though it’s still below a 5-year average. The delayed start of the construction of many planned projects meant that vacancy rates kept increasing, reaching 7.8% on average at the end of Q2.
New supply stayed strong in Warsaw and Budapest in the last 12 months leading to increasing vacancy rates while the rest of CEE capitals have seen much lower construction activity.
Radka joined Cushman & Wakefield in 2008 after being a leasing and marketing manager with international developer Skanska. In her previous role at Cushman & Wakefield, along with providing advisory to international office occupiers, she also focused on conceptual solutions of developer projects or creating effective strategies to increase property value.
