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.

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.