In the first half of 2021, tenants leased over 1.1 million sqm of modern office space across the capitals of the 15 CEE countries. The highest level of activity was recorded in Warsaw (249,300 sqm), followed by Prague and Budapest. The Business Services Sector continues to generate a great deal of demand and occupier activity and is one of the largest employment sectors in the region according to the “ExCEEding Borders - Office Markets & Business Services in CEE-15” report just released by Colliers.

Local developer Crestyl plans to build six office buildings as part of the new Prague district Hagibor in the vicinity of Želivského metro station. The construction of the first phase, in which EP Real Estate is also involved, will start this year. Crestyl is also gradually building five residential buildings on the site. The cost of the entire project will exceed €350 million (CZK 9 billion), local daily E15 reports.

AFI Europe has completed the shell of the fifth and final phase of the Tulipa Třebešín residential project which is intended purely for rental housing and completes a large-scale development on a 5-hectare urban brownfield site in Prague 3 - Strašnice. The building will offer a total of 61 residential units with an expected completion date of Q3 2022. The general contractor is Imos Brno. AFI Europe's total investment in Phase 5 will exceed CZK 250 million.

During H1 2021, Czech residential developer Central Group has completed the acquisition of land plots in three Prague locations, Žižkov, Hloubětín and Vysočany, for CZK 750 million. It plans to build almost a thousand new apartments on the land.

According to Savills, total modern office space in Prague increased slightly in Q2 2021 to 3.73 million sqm. Although subdued and still challenged by uncertainty, Q2 2021 saw a recovery in new supply as 49,500 sqm was delivered to the market across four new projects. Even though a decline of 57% is still visible in y-o-y comparison, new office supply for the second quarter is 10% above the pre-pandemic quarterly average.

The occupancy level in Prague’s hotels was just 10% during the first six months of this year, with revenue remaining far below the average of the pre-coronavirus years. Contrary to initial expectations, their owners are not selling them – definitely not on a mass scale. Investors’ interest in buying remains strong – more than one-third of them are “very” or “highly” interested in Prague, according to Cushman & Wakefield’s current Hotel Investor Beat survey. Investors obviously trust Prague’s hospitality market and perceive its current situation as temporary.

Czech investor Arete Group’s third fund, focused on quality industrial and logistics assets in the CEE region, completed the acquisition of a production and storage facility near Beroun, 20 km from Prague. This is the acquisition of a complex used for the production and storage of the Czech company Hronovský s.r.o., which was founded in 1990 and is one of the leaders in the field of cable assembly production, machining on CNC machines, pressing of plastic components and assembly of mechatronic components. The financial volume of the transaction exceeded almost €10 million.

Gross take-up on the Prague office market in Q2 2021 amounted to 89,300 sqm, representing a 5% decrease on the previous quarter but a 10% increase in a year-on-year comparison. The Prague Research Forum has published the office market figures for the past quarter.

The Nuselský pivovar (Nusle Brewery) residential project in Prague 4 has received a building permit, developer Penta Real Estate announced. Following the completion of demolition works, excavation works have now begun. 

The retail, industrial and logistics sectors have been affected by the recent price increase of crucial construction commodities mostly steel, plastic and wood, according to a report by 108 Agency.