The latest STR figures show that the Prague hotel market has borne the brunt of the coronavirus crisis in Europe. It recorded the steepest decline in average revenue per room in 2020, down 84.6% on the previous year on the back of an average 16.6% annual room occupancy rate. Even so, confidence in the Prague hotel market and its long-term potential is hardly waning, as underscored by the unflagging interest not only among investors, who are always on the lookout for good opportunities to buy but also among hotel operators, who have identified Prague as the main target of their activities. Results reported for last summer, when rules were eased for a while, signalled that the market would be able to recover relatively quickly once the restrictions are lifted. Complete recovery, however, is not expected until 2024.

CBRE, which has been managing the 22,805 sqm Visionary office building in Prague 7 for CA Immo for two years, has received a mandate to manage the Austrian company’s remaining office portfolio in the Czech Republic.

Gross take-up on the Prague office market in Q4 2020 amounted to 98,700 sqm, representing a 17.6% increase on the previous quarter but a 33% decrease in a year-on-year comparison. The Prague Research Forum announced the office market figures for Q4 2020.

On behalf of a German client, JLL’s Industrial Agency and Capital Markets Teams cooperated to sell the real estate component for a unique medical production operation in the Central Bohemian region of the Czech Republic in a 10-year sale & leaseback transaction. The asset also includes over 10,000 sqm of land with development potential.

CPI Property Group has sold part of its Czech facility management business to M2C, which provides security, maintenance and cleaning services. Employees from the existing facility management division will be transferred to M2C.

Although the retail segment is among those affected the most by the coronavirus crisis, this does not show in the number of brands newly incoming to the Czech market. Whereas 24 new brands came to the country in 2019, in the crisis year 2020 there were 25. This year, the number of newcomer brands could be even higher – some brands postponed opening their shops to 2021 due to the corona crisis., according to a report by Cushman & Wakefield.

For Germany-based real estate investor and developer Trei Real Estate, 2020 was a successful year thanks to the fact its portfolio mostly includes assets that were hardly affected by the pandemic. Pepijn Morshuis, CEO of Trei Real Estate talked to Property Forum about the experiences gained during 2020, changing financing conditions and the company’s plans for 2021.

Skanska has sold the Parkview office building in Prague to Deka Immobilien for €77 million. This is the second transaction between both parties in the last twelve months, which follows the acquisition of Generation Park Z in Warsaw last year.

Local developer Crestyl, through its subsidiary Savarin p.l.c., is issuing five-year zero-coupon bonds with a total nominal value of €84 million (CZK 2.2 billion) this week, with the possibility of increasing to CZK 3.3 billion. The purpose of the issue is to finance the Savarin project, which is being developed in the vicinity of Prague's Wenceslas Square and Na Příkopě Street. The multi-purpose complex also includes space for the installation of Alfons Mucha’s Slav Epic. The issue was prepared by J&T Banka and the bonds are also traded on the regulated market of the Prague Stock Exchange.

The end of 2020 saw the completion of an investment transaction that will enable the future development of one of the largest logistics parks in the Czech Republic on the extensive land surrounding the D5 motorway near Pilsen. CBRE prepared and managed the disposal process on behalf of the Icelandic asset manager Kaupthing. CBRE in addition to advising on the sale, also assisted with land due diligence, feasibility study and provided technical advisory. The new owner of the land is retail chain Lidl.