Savills has appointed Igor Gacek as Head of Property Management for the Czech Republic and Slovakia, effective 1st August 2023.

Leoš Anderle, CEO of Sekyra Group spoke to Property Forum about the residential projects of the Group not only in Prague but also in other cities, including abroad. He also shared what kind of buildings are the most complicated to build.

According to CPI Property Group's financial results for H1 2023, the group's rental income continues to rise, even as it works on its disposal and deleveraging plans. The group's CEO expects a similar trend for the rest of the year.

The new residential project Semerínka, backed by the developer Crestyl, has received a building permit and construction will begin during the autumn. The Semerínka project in Prague's Radlice district, consisting of four blocks of varying heights, will offer 185 apartments.

Developers, tenants, and owners of industrial and warehouse space in the Czech Republic are currently investing heavily in their solar power plants. This trend reflects not only the progressive modernisation of the energy sector but also the gradual move away from dependence on fossil fuels. Within this wave of innovation, we are also seeing extensive technological modifications being carried out in parallel on many buildings, aiming at an overall cut in energy consumption. One of the largest rooftop solar power plants to date is at the Urbanity Campus Tachov industrial park, with a reported installed capacity of 5 MW and an approximate annual production of more than 5,000 MWh of electricity, says 108 Agency in its latest report. 

Panattoni will build a new hall for Hanon Systems, a Korean manufacturer of parts for air conditioning and cooling systems for cars, in the Kladno-South industrial zone. The entire existing site with the existing hall will also undergo modifications. 

Panattoni Park Pilsen West II has a new tenant, Panasonic Heating & Ventilation Air-Conditioning Czech. The hall's premises with a total area of over 24,600 sqm will be used for the production and storage of control boards for air conditioners and heat pumps manufactured in the Czech Republic. 

Jiří Oslizlo, Chairman of the Board of Agrop Nova talked to Property Forum about the unique properties of wood and wooden constructions and how he would like to use his life experience from abroad to help reconfigure Czech thinking and ways of building. 

According to Savills' research, the demand figures for premium office space in the first half of 2023 have started to vary significantly across Europe compared to the five-year average, Luxembourg saw a 137% increase, Oslo a 22% increase and Prague a 13% increase, while Lisbon, Dublin and Budapest saw declines of 62%, 42% and 21%. However, demand is facing a shortage of modern office buildings, especially in well-served locations. Moreover, no developer has started construction of an office building in Prague for more than 12 months. In addition, most of the projects that started with the construction earlier (e.g., Masaryčka) are already significantly occupied. On the contrary, the positive news for those interested in new offices is that up to 195,700 sqm of new office space could be built in Prague by the end of 2025, of which 143,600 sqm is already under construction, says Savills in its analysis. 

High demand and a lack of new projects have caused Prague's office vacancy rate to fall. It currently stands at 7.26%. The volume of new construction and refurbishments accounted for approximately 143,600 sqm at the end of Q2 2023, and the total market size was 3.85 million sqm. Benchmark rental prices did not change from the previous quarter; however, the price of office fit-out (equipping them with necessary features) is increasing due to ESG and modern standards. Such outlays can easily exceed €1,000 per sqm, according to a survey conducted by Colliers.