A new development division of the Lekvi Group plans to build fifteen new retail parks in the region within five years. So far, this group of investors from the countries of the former Soviet Union has focused on the sale of apartments but now sees potential in retail parks in the Czech and Slovak Republics. The planned projects should cost CZK 1 billion, E15 reports.
According to the Lekvi Group, the construction and operation of retail parks in the smaller cities of the Czech Republic and Slovakia have a promising future, especially at this time. The period of the pandemic and closed shopping centres also contributed to this. "It has strengthened the importance of smaller formats.
Retail parks, where individual stores have separate entrances and tenants only share car parks, are now experiencing a real boom in smaller cities. "Retail parks in smaller cities tend to be easily accessible and occupied by everyday stores, for which there is a constant demand among customers," says Andrej Levin, Partner at Lekvi Development. After all, they tested the interest last year, when they built a small shopping centre with an area of 723 sqm in Zruč nad Sázavou. The discount chain of Pepco clothing and accessories, Teta drugstore and Valmont tobacco were among the largest tenants there. Lekvi Development is now in the process of trying to purchase other land and to receive permission.
The owner of the Lekvi is Uzbek Firaz Muinov. His company has been operating on the market since 2007. It was engaged in the sale and rental of old and new apartments. However, Lekvi also participated, for example, in the sale of apartments from the indebted Central Park Prague project. A large number of buyers at that time were citizens of post-Soviet republics. Now the group cooperates with several large developers, such as Daramis, Central Group, Acord Invest, Sekyra Group or the Prague Real Estate Administration. In 2010, it sold apartments for CZK 65 million crowns, and since 2016 it has reported a turnover of around a billion.
