With the purchase of the Visionary office building in Prague, CA Immo and Skanska have successfully signed and closed the second transaction between the two companies in the CEE region in 2018. The gross transaction volume is approx. €68 million.

The amount of office space currently under development in Prague is higher than ever. 136,000 sqm was completed in 2017 and an additional 165,000 sqm of modern office space should be delivered to the market in 2018. This is the highest development rate since 2008. Despite that, the vacancy rate has dropped to a record low of 6.2 per cent. This is a year-on-year decrease of more than 3 percentage points. This should change, however, with seven new office buildings due to be completed this year, according to Cushman & Wakefield.

CPI Property Group announced the disposal of five small retail properties located in regional cities of northern Czech Republic, totalling approximately 25,700 sqm.

Cushman & Wakefield has expanded its Project & Development Services (PDS) team, to include a new Design & Build (D&B) platform. The new European service line is headed by Glyn Evans for the CEE region, based in Prague. Andrew Frizell, Partner and Head of Project Management CEE is leading the new service line in Poland supported by Glyn Evans.

Avestus Capital Partners has sold Explora Business Centre in Prague to Golden Star Group, an international real estate group specializing in commercial and leisure real estate properties. Real estate advisors Colliers International and law firm Schoultz & Partners represented Avestus Real Estate while Golden Star Group was represented by Havel & Partners in this transaction.

19 % of all existing shopping centres in the Czech Republic have been refurbished to date. Further revitalizations are yet to be completed, according to Cushman & Wakefield.

In mid-June, international property developer HB Reavis announced the completion of a major real estate deal. The developer sold its office property Metronom Business Center located in Prague-Butovice to ČS nemovitostní fond, managed by Česká spořitelna’s REICO investiční společnost, for a sum of €89.2 million (CZK 2.3 billon). JLL advised HB Reavis on the sale.

Cromwell Property Group has sold the Čestlice Business Park in Prague-East for €17.5 million to an undisclosed buyer.

In recent weeks, JLL has participated in three large-scale investment transactions in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. These were strategic acquisitions of Wood & Company's real estate fund (the real estate arm of investment group Wood & Company), which recently acquired three premium office buildings.

AFI Europe Romania announced the appointment of Doron Klein as CEO of the company starting from July 2018. Doron currently leads AFI Europe’s Czech operations. He will replace David Hay, who held the position of CEO of AFI Europe Romania over the past seven years.