Strong demand across all investment sectors is expected to continue into 2017 in the Czech Republic and the €3 billion boundary could be exceeded once again. Retail is likely to become the most popular asset class next year, followed by offices and industrial. CBRE has released the Czech Republic Real Estate Market Outlook 2017.

Blackstone has sold the Hilton Prague Old Town hotel and Gestin Centrum, an adjacent 6,900 sqm mixed use commercial building, to Singapore-based real estate investment group M&L Hospitality. JLL’s Hotels & Hospitality group advised Blackstone on the sale.

Prague's office market has witnessed several records this year: the lowest annual office supply in history and one of the highest demand volumes. By the end of 2016, Prague´s office market will have 3,245,000 sqm of modern offices. At the same time, the Czech capital recorded the lowest annual office supply in history with only 33,600 sqm in 6 projects, On the contrary, over 180,000 sqm of new office space will be delivered to the Prague market next year. 

EY has established a dedicated Real Estate & Hospitality Advisory team based in Prague covering the Czech Republic and the Central Eastern European region. The team will focus on the areas of Corporate Strategic Advisory, Capital Markets, Valuations, Commercial Due Diligence as well as Capital Raising combining traditional property services with business, financial and legal advisory.

Mint Investments, a Central European real estate investment & asset manager sold Panorama Business Center in Prague. The buyer was REDSIDE, manager of real estate open-ended investment fund NOVA Real Estate (SICAV). The seller was advised by CBRE.

Penta Investments has sold its Florentinum office building, the company’s first development completed in the Czech Republic, to Chinese investment group CEFC. Florentinum, a LEED Platinum certified property opened in 2014 and is home to 70 long-term tenants, many of them blue chip companies such as EY, HSBC Bank, Bank of China, Havel Holásek & Partners Law Firm and RSJ Investment Group. The value of the transaction has not been disclosed. 

Only two shopping centres will be completed in 2016 in the Czech Republic due to the slow-down of construction activity in response to the perceived market saturation. Colliers International has released its Q3 retail market report for the Czech Republic, which also states that there are signs of new entrant demand which do not match suitable space availability. 

In H1 2016, a total of 3,350 apartments in 47 new residential schemes were completed in Prague. For the second half of the year, another 3,200 units are estimated to be completed in the Czech capital. In total, JLL expects 6,500 units to be completed in Prague, which is the highest figure since the real estate crisis in 2009. 

CA Immo has concluded an agreement with WOOD & Company to sell the Šestka Shopping Center in Prague, continuing its strategic withdrawal from segments that do not belong to the core business. The centre covers more than 27,300 sqm of retail space and had been part of the asset portfolio of CA Immo since 2011. The buyer is a fund of WOOD & Company, the leading investment bank in Emerging Europe. The transaction, which is subject to the standard conditions precedent, is expected to be closed within the next weeks. It was agreed not to disclose the purchase price. Law firm Clifford Chance Prague advised the seller on the disposal.

M7 Real Estate, a pan-European investor and asset manager, has raised its first Central European fund. M7 Central European Real Estate Fund I (M7 CEREF I) has received investor commitments from a number of family office and high net worth individuals totalling over €35 million to be deployed in the region. Following this initial raise, M7 CEREF I has acquired Oregon House in Prague.