Mint Investments has established a new real estate fund which will target people interested in investing in the resi-for-rent sector. MINT rezidenční fond SICAV plans to acquire rental residential buildings in large Czech cities, mainly in Prague and Brno. The fund completed its first €19 million (CZK 500 million) acquisition in the country’s second-largest city – Mint Living Brno Campus comprises 120 apartments as well as office and retail space.

Czech investment group Portiva and Micronix have acquired the Central Kladno shopping centre in Brno from Crestyl for approximately €74.8 million (CZK 2 billion).

With over 42,000 sqm of modern office space due for completion in 2020, Brno should receive one of the biggest additions of office space in recent years. Ostrava, on the other hand, hasn’t seen supply growth in several quarters and currently, there are no new office buildings under construction in the city. Colliers International has published its regional office market overview of the Czech Republic for H1 2020, focused on Brno and Ostrava.

CTP will modernise the Spielberk office complex near the Brno city centre. The aim is to lower energy consumption and ultimately reduce the carbon footprint of the site. CTP is investing almost €1.5 million (CZK 40 million) into modernising the energy system.

Online grocer Rohlik.cz has expanded its footprint in Brno with the lease of a custom-built, 8,000 sqm facility at CTPark Brno Líšeň. The expansion comes as the company has outgrown its existing 4,000 sqm premises at CTPark Brno. The new facility will double the company’s current footprint and will include both warehousing and production areas. Move in is on schedule for September 2020.

Office take-up in Prague has been slowly decreasing since 2017, cooling down further last year. Companies relocate or expand less often and increasingly more of them prefer to stay in their current location. Compared with earlier years, the share of major transactions in excess of 3,000 sqm was lower last year. The situation is not dramatic, however, as area absorption remains relatively high. This development can affect rents, though – their current amount will become untenable. By contrast, Brno saw a record-breaking increase in take-up and a strong share of major transactions last year, with rent amounts increasing as well, according to Cushman & Wakefield’s report.

In H2 2019, gross take-up on the Brno office market reached 54,600 sqm (up by 303% y-o-y), whereas in Ostrava gross take-up reached 4,100 sqm, representing a y-o-y decrease of 41%. The Regional Research forum announced the Brno and Ostrava office market figures for H2 2019.

DHL Express has leased a modern hall with a total area of 3 700 sqm at Brno’s airport. The construction, which should be completed in Q1 2020, will be carried out by Panattoni Europe.

Peakside Capital has completed the comprehensive refurbishment of a recently purchased mixed-use property in Brno. The building has been rebranded to Centrum Vídeňská and has been given a new logo. The renovation mainly focused on improving the quality of the common areas.

The dilapidated area of ​​the former Zetor industrial site in Brno Líšeň will come alive again. CTP has begun preparatory work for the construction of a new industrial park for light manufacturing, retail, research and small logistics. More than 1000 employees will find work here. The investment in the project is expected to amount to around €60 million (CZK 1.5 billion) with the expected date of completion of construction in 2025.