Transactions in the logistics sector have been dominating the Prague market this year. In the first half of 2018 alone, the take-up was 24% higher than in the full year 2017, precisely 226,600 sqm. During the same period, the overall gross take-up reached in Prague 408,000 sqm, showing an increase of 56 %. Besides the logistics sector, more than 90,000 sqm was taken by production and 76,000 sqm by distribution. The biggest new deal in Prague in the logistics sector was done by cargo-partner ČR, which signed a lease agreement for 12,450 sqm located in a stand-alone industrial building in the Logicor Prague Airport logistic park. The company will start operating from the new premises at the beginning of 2019. Cushman & Wakefield facilitated the lease of the premises.

CPI Property Group announced the appointment of Radek Zeman as Division Director and Barbara Topolska as Country Manager for Poland, in addition to the refinancing of the IGY shopping centre located in Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic. The newly secured loan of €60 million was provided by Komercni banka for a term of five years.

Over the next six months, Prologis will bring to market nine modern, sustainable buildings in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. The developer currently has nine logistics facilities under construction in CEE totalling around 200,000 square meters of space.

LiNK Hradec Králové, the first of a number of planned industrial and logistics projects by LinkCity Czech Republic and Cromwell Property Group, has been completed.

Colliers International Czech Republic has expanded its services with the launch of its Design & Build service line. The new division offers clients a wide and integral range of services directly linked to occupiers’ needs starting with fit-out consultancy, to drawing and planning space plans including the interior designs up to complete realization and turnkey handovers. The services offered under Design & Build are relevant to landlords and new occupiers, as well as to existing ones who wish to redesign existing premises and improve the productivity and retention of their employees. The latest office trends and technology are implemented to create a working environment that both inspires and motivates employees.

JLL has successfully rented out the Albatros Business Centre in Prague 1. Almost 3,500 sqm of space on Národní třída will be occupied from spring 2019 by Spaces, a global coworking giant of Dutch origin, which will become a major tenant of the building next to Česká spořitelna. This opening of the first branch in the Czech Republic indicates a growing interest in this type of office.

Penta, Sudop and Czech Railways are planning a new real estate project next to Prague's main railway station. The project would involve covering the railroad tracks between Španělská, Legerova and Vinohradská streets at the southern tip of the station, local daily E15 learned.

M7 Real Estate has recently sold three assets, Innovations Business Park in Budapest, Hungary and Sanitas Industrial Park and Uhrineves Industrial Park both located in Prague, Czech Republic, for a total of circa €24 million, delivering investors a strong increase in value.

Real estate professionals surveyed by the RICS in Q2 2018 now believe that the Czech investment market has reached the peak of the current cycle while the Hungarian and Polish markets are also close to peaking. Nevertheless, market sentiment is still positive on both the occupier and investment market in all CEE countries monitored by the RICS Commercial Property Monitor, including Croatia and Romania.

At the end of September or in early October, the Accolade Fund will exceed the symbolic mark 500,000 sqm of fully occupied rental space for light industry, e-commerce and logistics. This will move the Fund closer to another magical mark: CZK 10 billion worth of properties under its management. If all pending transactions are taken into account, the Fund’s rental property portfolio will increase to 515,000 sqm, worth in total €351.5 million, which is more than CZK 9 billion.