There are strange dances around the reconstruction of the baroque Savarin Palace in the centre of Prague. The CZK 10 billion project has been approved by the city's conservationists and city councillors and the first phase of the project is already underway, according to the builders. However, the Ministry of Culture has now rejected the project, saying it would threaten the city's conservation area, the Czech News Agency (ČTK) reports. Therefore, Culture Minister Martin Baxa has a request on his desk from the construction company Crestyl to review the decision of his officials, as company spokesman Ondřej Micka confirmed to Property Forum today.

Less than a year before completion, developer J&T Real Estate CZ is selling its Red Court office centre in Prague's Karlín district. BlackBird Real Estate will become the new owner immediately after approval, the online daily Seznamzpravy.cz reported about the transaction.

The second full-service apartment building with fully furnished apartments is being opened in Prague for short- and long-term living by Zeitraum, a leading operator of serviced apartments in Central-Eastern Europe.

A part of the Prague-based residential project Hagibor, which is being built by Crestyl Group, is now owned by Invesco Real Estate. The acquisition concerns the third phase of the residential part of the project, namely the Delta building, which is already under construction and is to be used for rental housing in the future. The price of the transaction, which was reported by the daily E15, was not published.

YIT has started construction of the Happi Milánská project in Prague's Horní Měcholupy and has put 72 new Finnish-style apartments of up to 99 sqm on sale. The residential building with access to both the countryside and the city centre will also include three commercial spaces. The developer plans completion in spring 2024.

The Prague office market in Q1 2022 experienced a further increase in vacancy, across the entire city. However, gross take-up recorded a year-on-year increase of 44% and thus returned to pre-pandemic levels. The increase in prices throughout the city is still felt especially in construction projects, mainly due to rising costs for materials and construction work, reports the Czech branch of Colliers in their regular survey.

The number of completed flats in the Czech Republic increased in the year 2021 by half a percent. A total of 34,581 flats were completed last year. However, the rising figures are due to extensions, while the number of flats completed in detached and apartment buildings fell. In the future, according to statisticians, it can be assumed that new construction will decline for many reasons, writes the Czech News Agency (ČTK) based on the statistics published today by the Czech Statistical Office (CSO).

The demand for office space in Prague increased by 29% quarter-on-quarter for the first quarter of 2021 and by 44% year-on-year. Although the largest transactions of the quarter were lease renegotiations – including Seznam.cz (14,800 sqm) in Palác Křižík in Prague 5 or MSD Czech Republic (6,800 sqm) in Riverview in Prague 5 – the share of newly leased space increased to 58%. The increase in newly leased and pre-leased space indicates confidence and healthy growth of the Prague office market. Despite the fact that leasing activity posted record numbers, the vacancy rate rose by 60 basis points quarter-on-quarter to 8.4%. JLL recorded an increase in vacancy rates in almost all Prague districts, as announced in the last report.

Geopolitical and economic challenges are not leaving the commercial real estate market unaffected. But how will these major global changes impact the Czech investment market in 2022? This is the question an expert panel, moderated by Mark Richardson (Colliers), at Prague Property Forum 2022 tried to answer.

Czechs are still afraid of cooperative housing. It is the preferred form of ownership for only 3% of those who plan to buy a flat or house, while 13% do not even consider it when buying a property. However, due to the rise in mortgage rates and property prices, cooperative housing is more affordable and thus 22% of respondents have recently improved their opinion on it, according to a survey by Komerční banka and Modrá pyramida, a building society.