At the end of May, the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of the Parliament of the Czech Republic, has approved an amendment to the building law that aims to accelerate approvals on large construction projects. If approved by the Senate and signed by the President, it should come into force on July 1, 2023. Property Forum asked two renowned market experts for their comments on the possible changes.

VGP has signed two lease agreements with OKAY, the Czech electronics and furniture retailer. The company has leased more than 50,000 sqm of warehouse space in VGP parks Vyškov and Prostějov. The new hall in Vyškov is already under construction and will be handed over in September this year, at which point the park will reach 100% occupancy. The building in Prostějov will be ready for use from January 2022. Both projects are being carried out under BREEAM Sustainable certification, level Very Good.

GLP closed the acquisition of Goodman Group’s CEE portfolio less than a year ago. With the integration complete, the company is developing a number of large-scale projects. Błażej Ciesielczak, the CEO of GLP Central and Eastern Europe talked to Property Forum about the growth of the logistics market and shared the company’s expansion strategy for the region.

AFI Europe has completed the €66.5 million acquisition of the Avenir Business Park in Prague 5 from Tristan Capital Partners. The office complex, offering more than 25,600 sqm of premium office space, is close to 100% occupancy. Long-term tenants include companies such as ČSOB (belongs to the KBC Group), ING, Porsche, McDonald's, Conduent, Dermacol, Simac Technik and Coloplast.

Czech real estate fund Trigea bought the Explora Business Centre office building in Prague’s Nové Butovice from Golden Star Group, an international real estate group, in one of the largest real estate transactions performed this year on the local market.

REICO has launched a new real estate fund. REICO ČS Long Lease is a special mutual fund focused mainly on retail clients. Its main investment criterion is buildings with leases secured for at least 10 years, in the logistics, manufacturing, retail and office sectors. The fund is intended as a complement to the investment portfolio mainly to conservative to medium-risk clients who want to increase the return of their real estate component.

A new shopping centre, part of the multifunctional Bořislavka Centrum complex developed by KKCG Group, is set to open in Prague on June 4. Located next to the Bořislavka metro station, the centre will feature approximately 9,000 sqm of retail space.

CPI Property Group’s net rental income increased by 6% to €88 million in Q1 2021 compared to Q1 2020. Consolidated adjusted EBITDA increased by 7% to €90 million and funds from operations (FFO) increased by 4% to €61 million compared to Q1 2020. The company published its unaudited financial results for the first quarter of 2021.

Commercial property is viewed as having below-average risk levels in most CEE countries. Revenues from different asset classes are expected to recover to pre-COVID levels most rapidly in Poland, according to the RICS Global Commercial Property Monitor for Q1 2021.

GLP has leased 20,000 sqm of logistics space across two logistics parks in Czech Republic and Slovakia. The company is developing further GLP Parks in Ostrava and Brno, with an additional two developments in the pipeline for next year.