Adam Zvada, CEO of Scott.Weber Workspace in Prague talked to Property Forum about the trends driving the flex workspace market and provided some insight into the company's expansion plans.

Property development and investment group Crestyl appointed Alena Líškay Králíková as its ESG manager in May. In her newly created position, she will be responsible for developing and overseeing the company's environmental, social responsibility and corporate governance policies and practices.

PPF Real Estate has teamed up with US developer Aventon Companies to enter the US residential market. Together they will build a residential complex with more than 300 residential units in Orlando, Florida by 2023. PPF intends to replicate this model of cooperation in other projects in the US, the company announced.

Proptech provider Spaceflow has announced a new strategic partner, Swedish investment group Hydda. Now, with this investment, Spaceflow will be able to get closer to its global vision to connect buildings with their occupiers.

The majority owner of RSJ Investments is now the Co-Founder and Head of the Group, Libor Winkler, as another co-founder and presidential candidate Karel Janeček has sold all his shares. Janeček remains in RSJ's sister company, which focuses on stock trading, the daily E15 reports. Neither the group nor Karel Janeček would comment on the changes. 

Despite the turbulent economic situation, banks are readily lending money to the commercial real estate segment, with warehouses being their top choice. The industrial investor Accolade is one of the most willingly financed warehouse portfolio holders in Poland. The company benefits from over €500 million in bank loans, 40% of which has been acquired since February 2020. At the same time, in the Czech Republic, the company has signed a loan agreement with a club of banks for €137.5 million. It is the largest ever loan provided for a single industrial rental property in the CEE region.

Due to the high prices of flats and houses, less availability of mortgages, extreme inflation, as well as the rising price of building materials and labour, people in the Czech Republic are now looking more for rental housing. The influx of refugees from Ukraine has also significantly increased the interest in renting. Under the influence of the enormous demand, rental prices are thus starting to reach the pre-Covida level, and in some places have already exceeded it. According to PSN, the availability of apartments is decreasing and the company is now preparing entire projects for rental housing.

The EU Space Programme Agency (EUSPA) could become the first tenant after the completion of a dilapidated building in the centre of Prague's Palmovka district. The Prague City Council plans to approve the terms of a key contract in June that will kick-start preparations for the completion and ensure the agency moves into the building. Deník E15 reports that Petr Hlaváček, Prague's deputy mayor for territorial development, confirmed the news.

Accolade Group has signed a €137.5 million (roughly CZK 3.4 billion) loan agreement. Thanks to this, the company will be able to finance the construction of a large multi-storey distribution centre near Kojetín in the Olomouc Region (located in the northeast of the Czech Republic) for the online store Amazon, writes the daily E15.

For the first quarter of 2022, the growth of the Czech industrial market and the recovery of industrial production were not stopped even by outages in the supply chains. This quarter also continued to see a sharp rise in rents in almost the entire country. The market for industrial premises will continue to grow, but over the year the full effects of the war in Ukraine will be felt and construction may slow down slightly, reports Colliers.