Skanska has acquired the Key office project in Prague’s Pankrác district from ČSAD Praha Holding for an undisclosed sum. The developer plans to start construction works before year-end.

Július Hájek joins CTP as a new Head of Marketing. Július will be responsible for marketing strategy and execution as well as PR activities in all CTP markets throughout central Europe.

Occupier and investment sentiment remains positive across all Central and Eastern European countries tracked by the RICS Commercial Property Monitor. Results for Q2 2017 show that Hungary and the Czech Republic continue to post the strongest overall results. The vast majority of respondents expect new investors to enter the market with the presence of local and CEE investors predicted to increase across the region in the year ahead.

Investment volumes in Central and Eastern Europe (Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Czech Republic, Russia and Turkey) reached €7 billion in H1 2017. This is 6% less than in the same period of the previous year.

CTP has agreed to sell its non-core assets to DMO Invest for approximately €40 million. The sale involved CTP’s subsidiary CT Retail—a holding company for a portfolio of supermarkets and other retail properties.

Tesco’s department store next to Brno’s main railway station has been sold to British developer Crestyl for an undisclosed sum. The supermarket will continue to operate at its current location. 

SachsenFonds, a company that manages investments in real estate and renewable energy sources, is changing its name. The new business name EURAMCO stands for European Asset Management Company and reflects its growing presence on international markets. The company was started in 1999 as one of the subsidiaries of Landesbank Sachsen. Today, the EURAMCO Group administers close to €4 billion in approximately 60 private investment funds. In Europe, EURAMCO has three offices: the headquarters in Ascheim near Munich (investment management in Western Europe), in Prague (investment management in Central and South-Eastern Europe) and in Warsaw. In addition, the company also operates on the Australian market with a branch office in Sydney.

The first half of 2017 saw the Czech Republic overtake Poland as the most popular investment destination within CEE. Based on the current pipeline of deals Poland might retake its position rather soon, nevertheless, the combination of growth, yields and stability make Czech Republic and other countries in the CEE region highly attractive to international and domestic investors. Luke Dawson, Managing Director & Head of Capital Markets CEE at Colliers International shared his expectations with Property Forum.

The Czech Republic has become the top performer of the Central European region in terms of the volume of investment that has flowed into commercial real estate since the beginning of 2017. Unlike the preceding years when Poland was the clear number one, the largest amount has been invested in the Czech Republic, even though the country’s market is roughly one half the size of its larger neighbour’s market. 

High demand for new premises and steady new supply are pushing the Prague office market vacancy rate down. According to JLL’s latest report, the vacancy rate currently stands at 8.6 %, being one of the lowest levels in the history of the market.