ARTICLES LABELLED WITH TAG Czech Republic

As a result of a legal dispute between real estate tycoon Radovan Vítek's CPI Property Group and businessmen Marek Čmejla and Jiří Diviš, a Cypriot court has reportedly ordered banks to freeze CPI Property Group's assets worth almost CZK 13 billion (€553 million), according to the German economic newspaper Handelsblatt, cited by the Czech daily Hn.cz. CPIPG, however, denies the German newspaper's information, saying that the interim measure is not in force and that no accounts have been seized or assets were frozen.

The Prague office market has experienced a decline in the construction of new office buildings over the last three quarters which has also been reflected in a decline in speculative construction. Whereas a year ago almost 80% of offices under construction did not have a secure tenant, this share has now fallen to 52%. Tenants were looking for office space in established office locations in the vicinity of Karlín in Prague 8 and Pankrác in Prague 4 in the first quarter. A quarterly analysis by international consultancy JLL shows that 7.5% of modern office space in Prague is currently vacant, which corresponds to 289,100 sqm of space. However, the supply of so-called subleases, which are not included in the official vacancy register, is also growing. According to JLL's latest analysis, there could be around 80,000 sqm of sublease space.

Industrial properties in the Czech Republic are still very full. The vacancy rate in Prague and its surroundings alone is almost zero for the second year. Rents are also rising, with some locations seeing an increase of almost 100% compared to their original terms, according to the latest report on the Czech industrial property market from companies associated with the Industrial Research Forum.

CTP is contributing to the carbon neutrality of the warehouses of CTPark Prague North with the use of trapezoidal sheets made of XCarb ‘green’ steel, manufactured by Arcelor Mittal. It will be added to the entire roof area of a warehouse designated D8.7B with a total area of 32,000 sqm. This resulted in a saving of 835 tonnes of CO2, the equivalent of 348 people living without a car for 1 year.

Crestyl has unveiled its new residential project. The project will be built next to the vast Šárka Nature Park in Prague 6 on the site of the current Šárka Business Park industrial and logistics complex (former Aritma). The new free-access residential area with park areas will include 18 villas with a total of 224 apartments, six family houses near the border with the forest land, a kindergarten and premises for services and shops. The architectural and urban design of the buildings and public spaces emphasises the connection with the nearby forest. The project received final planning permission in February this year. Construction of the first phase, which will include 108 apartments, is scheduled to start next year. The total investment will exceed four billion crowns (€170.15 million).

CPI Property Group and S Immo have signed and completed an agreement regarding the sale and purchase of a property portfolio in the Czech Republic.

JLL and iO Partners have announced today that JLL will transfer its existing Leasing, Capital Markets, Valuations Advisory, Consulting and Project Management delivery businesses to iO Partners in Romania, Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia.

The average price of older flats in the Czech Republic fell by nine percent year-on-year to CZK 82,351 per sqm (€3,510 per sqm), which brought an overall increase in sales by two-thirds compared to the previous year. However, Prague has seen the fewest sales of older apartments in four years. According to ČTK and HN.cz, this is the result of a study by the real estate group European Housing Services (EHS), which uses data from its founding members, Bezrealitky and Maxima Reality.

The frozen Czech residential real estate market experienced a minor shake-up when developer Central Group put fifty new apartments on the market in Prague's Harfa at a big discount. According to the developer, they were sold out in a few hours. The price was CZK 100,000 (€4,250) per sqm, a quarter cheaper than is usual in the locality and a third cheaper than the Prague average, writes Hn.cz.

The latest data from Q1 2023 show a recovery of the new flats market in Prague. Quarter-on-quarter, sales increased by almost a fifth. The mortgage market, which has also seen a rally in recent months, but also the return of investors, will have an impact on further developments. Neither offer nor sale prices have changed significantly compared to the previous period. This is mainly due to persistently high construction costs, slow permitting of new construction and temporary postponement of some planned projects, according to the market analysis of development companies Trigema, Skanska and Central Group.