28 out of the total of 80 brands that tapped the market in the Central and Eastern European region in 2018 chose the Czech Republic as their destination. As a result, the number of new brands coming to the country remained the same as in the previous year. Poland is a close second with 26 new international brands having opened their first shops there last year. The figures come from the latest comparison prepared by Cushman & Wakefield, which monitors and compares data in the real estate sector across the region. This enables the company to provide a full picture of the developments on the Central European market.

Radisson Blu announced the opening of a new Radisson Blu Hotel in Prague. The reopening of this modern hotel follows the transformation of an existing property, with major capital investment going into the project to upgrade and rebrand the former hotel.

CTP and a consortium of three banking groups (Erste Group Bank, Société Générale and UniCredit) agreed on an underwriting package of €1.9 billion for CTP’s Czech industrial portfolio, comprising 200 buildings, covering 2.7 million sqm of premium industrial space.

Skanska has acquired about 13,000 square meters of land in Prague, Czech Republic, from HB Reavis Group B.V. The total investment amounts to €19.5 million.

During Q1 2019, some 168,300 sqm of warehouse space was completed on the Czech industrial market. In year on year comparison, this was a 20% decrease, but in longer term comparison, the completions level was 25% above 5-year average, according to Colliers International.

Two large transactions in excess of €200 million that closed in Q1 and pipeline transactions of at least €1.5 billion point to the overall investment volume for 2019 exceeding the figures achieved in 2018 in 2019, according to the latest research from Colliers International.  

Flow East has announced that its new development, currently under construction on Wenceslas Square, will be named "The Flow Building". The mixed-use project will offer nearly 15,000 sqm of Class A office space and 6,000 sqm of high-quality retail space upon its completion in 2020.

Investment fund Focus Estate Fund has set the goal to expand the geography of its presence in Central and Eastern Europe. In the next two years, the Fund plans to more than double its portfolio by strengthening its position in the niche of medium-sized commercial real estate in Poland and the Czech Republic, as well as by entering the Slovak market.

At the end of Q1 2019, the total modern Class A industrial stock in the Czech Republic stood at 7.97 million sqm. In the first three months of 2019, the Prague industrial market has exceeded the magical milestone of 3 million sqm, confirming its position as the largest industrial market in the country, followed by the Pilsen and South Moravian markets, according to JLL:

According to the RICS Commercial Property Monitor, Hungary has the strongest occupier sentiment and the Czech Republic has the strongest investment sentiment among the 40 countries surveyed in Q1 2019. Market expectations remained fairly positive across Central and Eastern Europe in the first quarter of the year, with the share of those stating that we have reached the peak of current property cycle decreasing compared to previous quarters.