Although the Czech Republic spent Q4 in a state of emergency, with borders being more closed more often than open towards the year’s end, the Czech real estate investment market finished on less than record-breaking results but, considering the challenging year, it was far from being bad, according to Colliers International’s latest investment market report.

Czech developer Crestyl Group is the process of developing a number of large-scale mixed-use projects in the capital and beyond. Omar Koleilat, CEO of the company talked to Property Forum about Crestyl’s development plans and shared his expectations for the Czech investment market in 2021.

GLP has commenced development of a 51,000 sqm warehouse at GLP Park Prague Chrastany, 40,000 sqm of which has been leased to e-commerce business, Alza.

Realpad is a European provider of software that helps more than 60 residential developers provide better customer service. Recently, in cooperation with Slovak developer Corwin, Realpad completed a pilot project for the digitisation of the entire apartment handover process. The solution has been quickly adopted by more customers in other European markets.

The MBARE programme (MBA – Real Estate Investment, Development and Valuation) taught at the Prague University of Economics and Business, after only three years of operation, has been accredited by the international organization RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) for the field of commercial real estate and real estate valuation. It is the only accredited MBA programme of its kind in Central and Eastern Europe.

The fourth quarter of 2020 closed a year full of changes and upcoming trends on the Czech industrial market. Despite the pandemic, the industrial segment proved stable, and there was a significant acceleration in the development of e-commerce, and specifically the digitalisation of the entire retail sector. There remains a high demand for premises on the market from investors and clients, and this interest puts pressure on prices, which will increase significantly at premium locations in 2021, according to 108 Agency.

In the first half of January, investors subscribed to new four-year bonds of Czech development company Trigema in the total amount of €11.5 million (CZK 300 million). The purpose of the issue is to finance the company's development activities.

In the new Panattoni Pilsen Digital Park on Pilsen’s Bory terraces, a fully automated plant for the production of 100% recyclable beverage cans will be built in the first phase. It will be used by American company Ball, a world leader in this industry. The investment will create almost 200 new jobs for a qualified workforce. The first building will occupy a third of the planned area. Ball is also setting up its own development centre in the same location.

CPI Property Group announced the successful issue of ten-year senior unsecured bonds and hybrid bonds with a total value of €1 billion.

Crowdberry, an investment platform enabling private investors to invest in Czech and Slovak companies and real estate, has launched a new qualified investor real estate fund, the CB Property Investors Subfund (CBPI). The fund aims to invest €30 million over the next three years to deliver a portfolio of ca. +€75 million in total value. CBPI will focus on value-add real estate across different asset classes and will target above-market returns of 10+% p.a. for investors by unlocking and elevating the value of Czech and Slovak real estate.