Siemens CR and CPI PG announced that they signed an agreement to extend the lease and complete a total renovation of City West office buildings in Prague - Stodůlky, where Siemens CR headquarters have been located since 2010. The contract has been extended until 2027 and will undergo extensive modernisation of offices, common areas, parking spaces and specific outdoor areas. The common goal is to improve and beautify the employee work environment, reflecting Siemens' development needs within its headquarters in the Czech Republic.

According to JLL, Prague is still the largest sub-market in the Czech Republic, but a great deal of attention is also being paid to the border areas. In Q1 2018, almost 25% of all new industrial supply in the first quarter was delivered in the Karlovy Vary region for example. These include Panattoni Park Cheb and CTPark Aš, which together brought more than 50,000 sqm of new warehouse space to potential tenants. In another part of Northwest Bohemia, the Ústí nad Labem region, many projects have also been completed. The region represented 20% of the total completed industrial space and the third most active region by new premises delivered.

Skanska’s commercial development unit in CEE has announced the appointment of Alexandra Tomášková as Managing Director for Skanska Property Czech Republic. She will begin in her new role from June 1st 2018, and will also become a member of Skanska CEE’s commercial development unit Management Team.

Neinver opened Prague The Style Outlets, its first outlet centre in the Czech Republic and the 16th centre in the company’s expanding portfolio, which totals 300,000 sqm of gross leasable area (GLA). The centre features over 100 stores in 20,000 sqm of GLA. The new centre is part of a joint venture between Neinver and The Prague Outlet signed in 2016 to create the largest outlet centre in the Czech Republic, with a total investment of €70 million. A second phase will increase the total commercial space to 30,000 sqm in the coming years. The outlet centre will bring over 600 jobs and considerable tourist spending to the local economy.

Whilst Prague 4 is the largest market, over the next two years, most of the new supply will be delivered to Prague 8. In perspective, it could overtake Prague 1 by market share and become the third largest office submarket in the capital. In 2018 and 2019, almost 27% of new offices that are currently under construction will be completed in Prague 8. The largest of the planned projects is Palmovka Open Park, thanks to which office space in Prague 8 will expand by almost 25,000 sqm at the end of Q2 2018. Regarding the intensity of construction, Prague 4 is in second place with 22% of the offices under construction. The third place belongs to Prague 5, where 19% of new construction will be completed.

Owners Meyer Bergman and Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan have put Ostrava’s Forum Nová Karolina shopping centre on sale, Hospodářské noviny reports.

Investor demand remains very strong on the Czech market and it seems that the only thing that can limit further growth is the lack of available product in most market segments. Mike Atwell, Regional Director, Head of Capital Markets Czech Republic and Leader Director CEE Capital Markets at JLL shared his expectations for the Czech market.

Panattoni Europe has announced investments worth €1.2 billion in city logistics projects – facilities built within city limits dedicated to the so-called “last mile”. Already today in Poland, four such parks are under development, totalling €65 million in value, and the most recent development – City Logistics Warsaw has already secured its first tenant. It is Frisco.pl – the online supermarket. In the space of 3 years, the developer will systematically pursue successive markets, including Germany, the United Kingdom and the Czech Republic.

Cromwell Property Group, has entered into a strategic partnership with Linkcity, member of Bouygues Construction, a global construction company, to invest in the rollout of a portfolio of logistics and light industrial assets in Central and Eastern Europe.

Market players still look positively toward the future of Central and Eastern European property markets but they are visibly less buoyant than they were during most of 2017. Results for Bulgaria, Croatia and Hungary are the most positive, while in Romania the picture is rather mixed. All data points to the Czech investment market being in a state close to peaking.