Upvest from Komerční banka Group together with the American real estate firm Lincoln Property Company has bought the Zirkon office centre in Prague 8 from Českomoravská nemovitostní (ČMN). The price of the transaction has not been disclosed.
Two years after the purchase, Českomoravská nemovitostní sold the Zirkon Office Center office building in Prague-Karlín near the Křižíkova metro station. The company explained the sale of the property by the fact that an older building needed redevelopment and thus did not fully fit into the company's strategy. The new owner of the Zirkon Office Center is a joint venture between Upvest and US real estate company Lincoln Property Company. Upvest, which focuses on financing real estate projects, has been part of the Komerční banka group since last year.
"Zirkon, due to its location right next to the metro, has a significant added value, however, this must be extracted through appropriate renovation. It goes beyond our core business of owning and managing the best quality real estate in Prague," said Radek Stacha, Head of the ČMN Board of Directors.
For Upvest, the building in Karlin is the first project in the Czech Republic in which Upvest has entered directly as a co-owner. "From the position of a financial partner, we select projects for which we have a high degree of conviction that they would deliver to investors an evaluation corresponding to the risk of the project, in this case, the redevelopment," said David Musil, CEO of Upvest, about the project in Prague 8. While Upvest will act as a financial investor in the Zirkon property in Karlin, the other co-owner, Lincoln Property Company, will be responsible for the day-to-day management of the project.
"We plan to sensitively renovate the Zirkon Office Center building in the coming years to meet the ESG requirements of future tenants and investors. Thanks to the location right next to the metro and tram stops, the efficient shape of the floors and the history of the building, we will be able to offer a product that is in high demand in Karlín," said Štefan Puci, Investment Director at Lincoln Property Company.
