Vaclav Jonas has been appointed Managing Director of the Prague office and is thus responsible for all asset and property management activities of CA Immo in the Czech Republic, including tenant support and retention. Vaclav Jonas will be supported by Jan Baxa, who took over the role of Head of Asset Management in the Czech Republic from April 2018, and Radek Poulicek, who joined the company as a Leasing Manager in March 2018.

In Q1 2018, industrial space totalling 181,900 sqm was completed across the Czech Republic, but speculative construction accounted only for 2% of all new developments. The Industrial Research Forum announced the preliminary industrial market figures for Q1 2018.

CPI Property Group announced the acquisition of Futurum Hradec Kralove Shopping Centre from Meyer Bergman, a privately held real estate investment management firm.

Cushman & Wakefield is expanding its Project & Development Services (PDS) team, to include a new C&W Design + Build platform. In Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), the new service will be headed by Glyn Evans, based in Prague.

Immofinanz has sold the Brno Business Park office buildings via a share deal to Infond investment fund. The transaction was closed on March 9, 2018. bpv Braun Partners advised Immofinanz on the sale. Infond has been advised by Hladky Legal, Knight Frank and Redbaenk.

M7 Real Estate, a pan-European real estate investor and specialist asset manager, has agreed on a number of transactions as part of its proactive asset management programme on behalf of Vector Parks. Vector Parks comprises a portfolio of industrial and office assets located in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Over the last six months, M7 has completed six new lettings and four renewals totalling over 20,500 sqm with predominantly anchor tenants.

REICO investiční společnost České spořitelny, a.s. has acquired, on behalf of the ČS nemovitostní fond, their first prime industrial asset in Slovakia from developer and investor Invest4SEE Investment Holding GmbH. JLL advised REICO IS ČS on their first industrial acquisition in Slovakia with a transaction value of €38.9 million.

New projects are building up slowly, the number of commenced constructions are declining and high demand remains. At the end of last year, approximately 8,100 units were under construction in Prague. This is the lowest result since 2014. The total number of completions reached 6,176 apartments which is 5% below 2016 levels. 2018 will most probably not bring a major change, rather the opposite. In 2018, the construction of around 3,800 new flats will commence, the lowest figure since 2009. About 5,000 units will be completed, marking a significant decline compared to 2017.

The Czech hospitality market has been achieving above-average performance rates thanks to a steadily growing number of tourists. This has had a positive effect on hospitality properties whose yields ranging between 6% and 7% are noticeably higher than the yields in other commercial sectors, specifically retail, office and industrial. They are also attractive with rents guaranteed for a long time. As a result, converting office space into hospitality facilities is becoming a frequent choice among both domestic and international investors. Czech operators can compete with foreign ones quite capably and tend to be the preferred choice for hotel owners. Just about 14% of the local market operators are international brands.

One of the fastest growing co-working chains has announced its entry into the Czech market. Business Link, hosted by Skanska, will open its first location in Prague in July of this year. At the Visionary office building located in Prague 7, the company will offer around 4,700 sqm of co-working space, including space for approx. 100 people, 159 private offices, and five conference rooms.