A record number of new brands entered the Czech retail market last year. In the past ten years, since Cushman & Wakefield has been closely monitoring this activity, none equalled the 2023 list of 39 new retail brands.

Logistics developer CTP has built a new coworking centre named "Clubco' in the IQ Ostrava complex on Náměstí Republiky where the company Tietoevry was previously located. The premises are suitable for small and medium-sized companies, as well as corporations or freelancers. Up to 130 people can work together in 1,512 sqm of office space.

The Ostrava-based construction company HSF System has formed a holding structure that includes a total of 26 companies. The new holding company, with sales exceeding CZK 3 billion (€122.2 million), is called Purposia Group. The main reasons for establishing the holding company are to increase efficiency and further expansion plans, HSF System announced. 

A new city area CTZone is under construction in Ostrava, which will be the centre of business opportunities and residential housing. Behind the ambitious project is CTP, which is simultaneously developing several other activities in the Ostrava region. 

Ostrava Airport has opened an air cargo terminal called Cargo 2 at the airport in Mošnov in the Novojičín region (25 minutes south of Ostrava). It cost CZK 139 million (€5.6 million) to build and was constructed by the Ostrava company HSF System. The terminal will increase the airport's capacity and improve the quality of cargo handling, the Czech News Agency (ČTK) reports.

Czech developer Contera has opened Organica office building in Ostrava. The grand opening was attended by representatives of the main client, the Scandinavian company Tietoevry, as well as the Mayor of Ostrava and the Governor of the Moravian-Silesian Region. 

Industrial developer Panattoni is buying a huge brownfield on the site of the former Barbora Mine from the current owner Asental. The company intends to build a modern industrial park of hundreds of thousands of square metres on the site of the former coal mining site. The price of the transaction has not been disclosed, Seznamzprávy.cz reports.

More and more companies are considering expanding into Czech regions, but a lack of suitable office space is preventing them from doing so. In regions outside of Prague or Brno, there is not only a shortage of modern space for rent, but also a lack of flex operators. Those types of businesses could benefit from the growing interest of international companies in the Hub & Spoke or Flex & Core model, reports Colliers. 

In the first half of 2023, a total of 24,600 sqm of new office space was delivered to the Brno office market. Ostrava saw the delivery of no new office space, but the one that is under construction should be completed by the end of the year. The vacancy rate in the Brno office market in H1 2023 increased to 14.6% and in the Ostrava office market up to 7.8%, reports the Regional Research Forum (RRF).

IT company ITIXO has signed a lease agreement for office space in the IQ Ostrava building. It has thus become the first new tenant of one of the most modern office buildings in the Czech Republic, belonging to the developer CTP. CTP is also the originator of the popular Clubco coworking centre concept, which will be available in IQ Ostrava this autumn.