Cushman & Wakefield has summarised the first quarter of 2021 in the CEE commercial real estate market. Investment volume at the end of the first quarter stands at €2 billion, down by around 20% compared to the same period in 2020.

Amphenol, a major producer of electronic and fibre optic connectors, cable and interconnect systems, is relocating its production plant within Ostrov in the Karlovy Vary Region. Panattoni Park Ostrov North was created by revitalizing the devastated site after the Škoda Pilsen trolleybus production plant, one of the largest brownfields in the Czech Republic.

Ikea extended its lease contract at Segro Logistics Park Prague in the vicinity of the Václav Havel Airport. It will continue leasing the warehouse space totalling almost 12,500 sqm in the building it uses as a goods pick-up warehouse for its customers. The lease transaction was assisted by Cushman & Wakefield.

A total investment volume of €290 million was transacted in the Czech Republic during the first quarter of 2021, according to Savills’ latest research. Without the exceptional €1.3 billion Residomo portfolio sale transaction, the investment volume was only down by 8% y-o-y.

A total of 23 retail park projects with a total area of almost 55,000 sqm were completed in the Czech Republic last year, with the volume of development exceeding a ten-year average. In effect, the aggregate area of all retail parks in the Czech Republic has exceeded 1 million sqm. Retail park development currently focuses on smaller towns with up to 40,000 inhabitants. The greatest volume of new development was in the Central Bohemian Region last year, according to an analysis by Cushman & Wakefield.

In Q1 2021, industrial take-up on the Czech market registered an increase of 147% compared to the same quarter of the previous year. The Industrial Research Forum announced industrial market figures for Q1 2021.

The Q1 2021 results of the RICS Global Commercial Property Monitor indicate a slightly less negative market sentiment across Europe compared to the previous quarter. Rental growth expectations remain negative within the office and retail sectors across all European nations covered, while the outlook for industrial markets has never been more positive.

According to the latest Savills research, at figures ranging between €4.60-5.30 per sqm per month, out of 54 markets analysed, Prague and the Polish cities of Katowice, Wrocław, TriCity and Poznań are among the ten cheapest locations for renting a modern warehouse globally. In Europe, Poznań (€4.68/sqm/month) is the most cost-effective location with only certain cities in India and Vietnam having lower overall warehousing property costs.

The Czech market is still slow in comparison to previous years. Market fundamentals remain good, as does the demand for core and core+ assets, but the market is experiencing limited supply of the right investment product, according to the latest capital markets report by Colliers.

Czech-founded PPF Real Estate Holding has entered the United States market through its U.S. division, finalizing an acquisition of Mansell Overlook, a large office campus in the broader Atlanta metropolitan area. The acquisition is a steppingstone for future investments by PPF in the U.S. property market.