Stefan de Goeij has rejoined CTP as ESG and Energy Lead, after a two-year break, reporting directly to the company’s founder and CEO Remon Vos.

PPF continues to divest its Russian portfolio. It has completed the sale of its 60 percent majority stake in the giant South Gate logistics centre near Moscow. The deal is said to be the largest of its kind in a decade, Russian news server Metalinfo.ru reports, cited by Czech daily E15.cz.

The commercial real estate investment market in the Czech Republic is stagnating. Analysts see the year 2023 as a challenging year. However, the market was dominated by domestic capital last year and there is still a mismatch in the expectations of buyers and sellers, according to a Knight Frank report.

The real estate investment market is impacted by increased inflation expectations, higher interest rates and the inflated cost of financing, and it will continue into 2023. It inevitably leads to increasing yield expectations. In most European markets across various sectors, yields have increased this year. According to BNP Paribas Real Estate, some price corrections are expected in some markets and asset types in 2023. The market expects to stabilize in the second half of the year when investment activity could also see some revival, reported 108 real estate agency. 

Obermeyer Helika, one of the largest Czech engineering and construction consulting companies, is expanding its management. In the second week of January, the company appointed Jiri Kos as its new Chief Commercial Officer. 

Zeitgeist Asset Management has signed a lease agreement for 2,600 sqm of premium space in Prague's Dunaj Palace with the Czech Representation of the European Commission and the European Parliament Liaison Office. It will include a visitor center for the public. Approval of the reconstructed palace should be in 10 months. The lease agreement is signed for 15 years, Zeitgeist announced.

All apartments in the AFIHome Třebešín rental project in Prague 3 are now fully leased. All tenants of 61 apartments have also moved in, AFI Europe has announced. 

The Czech retail market once again proved its appeal to retail brands, with 38 new arrivals last year. That is the same figure as in 2021 when the influx of 38 new brands was partly the result of the postponement of some entries due to the pandemic. These numbers represent a roughly 50% increase compared to 2019 (22 brands) and 2020 (25 brands), according to the Cushman & Wakefield analysis of the Czech retail market in 2022.

AFI Europe has completed its third rental housing project in Prague this year. AFIHome Kolbenova, the first apartment building in the new multifunctional district AFI City in Prague 9, has now been approved.

Some developers forecast that sales prices will increase in the future purely as a result of the zero-emission requirements currently being placed on buildings but there is no consensus as to what the ultimate effect will be. Robert David, Partner and Tomáš Kren, Senior Associate at Wolf Theiss’ Prague office talked to Property Forum about the increasingly important role ESG compliance plays in real estate transactions and potential regulatory changes that can affect the market.