Czech developer CRESCO REAL ESTATE has introduced an AI-powered virtual sales assistant named Yarda on the website of its Yards Žižkov residential project in Prague, becoming the first developer in the Czech Republic to integrate such a tool directly into a residential project's online sales process. The assistant is available around the clock and communicates with prospective buyers in natural language, answering questions about the project, individual apartments and the surrounding area.
"Until now, residential project websites were built so that clients could find everything they needed. Now they no longer have to search. They simply ask," said Aleš Svatoň, general director of CRESCO REAL ESTATE Czech Republic.
Yarda can answer questions about apartment specifications, parking, completion dates and amenities, follow the context of a conversation, and recommend specific units based on a buyer's stated preferences and budget. If a prospective buyer wishes to proceed, the assistant can arrange for the sales team to follow up and schedule a meeting. Unlike conventional chatbots built on fixed question-and-answer scripts, the tool uses generative AI to hold open-ended conversations and cross-reference project information with the current available inventory.
"We did not want to add just a chatbot to the website. We wanted to create a real virtual colleague who can help clients in a similar way to a member of our sales team. Yarda answers questions, helps clients navigate the offer and, at the right moment, connects them with a real person. The only difference is that, unlike us, it is available 24 hours a day," said Lucie Barcalová, head of sales at CRESCO REAL ESTATE Czech Republic. She added: "We do not want to sell apartments without people. We want to shorten the time between the moment a client starts looking for a new home and the moment we can genuinely help them."
The Yards Žižkov project is being developed by CRESCO REAL ESTATE together with WOOD & Company on the site of the former Nákladové nádraží Žižkov freight depot in Prague. Across two phases, more than 1,100 apartments are planned. WOOD & Company is an investment group that has operated in Central Europe since 1991; its real estate arm, WOOD Real Estate, actively manages commercial properties in Prague, Bratislava and Warsaw, with a portfolio of 19 projects covering more than 480,000 sqm of leasable space.
"Yards Žižkov is a long-term residential project and from the outset we wanted it to be innovative not only in its architecture but also in how we present and sell it to clients. The AI assistant is our first step. If the technology proves itself, we plan to develop it further and apply it to other projects," said Aleš Svatoň.
