Gross take-up on the Prague office market in Q4 2020 amounted to 98,700 sqm, representing a 17.6% increase on the previous quarter but a 33% decrease in a year-on-year comparison. The Prague Research Forum announced the office market figures for Q4 2020.

Although the retail segment is among those affected the most by the coronavirus crisis, this does not show in the number of brands newly incoming to the Czech market. Whereas 24 new brands came to the country in 2019, in the crisis year 2020 there were 25. This year, the number of newcomer brands could be even higher – some brands postponed opening their shops to 2021 due to the corona crisis., according to a report by Cushman & Wakefield.

Skanska has sold the Parkview office building in Prague to Deka Immobilien for €77 million. This is the second transaction between both parties in the last twelve months, which follows the acquisition of Generation Park Z in Warsaw last year.

Local developer Crestyl, through its subsidiary Savarin p.l.c., is issuing five-year zero-coupon bonds with a total nominal value of €84 million (CZK 2.2 billion) this week, with the possibility of increasing to CZK 3.3 billion. The purpose of the issue is to finance the Savarin project, which is being developed in the vicinity of Prague's Wenceslas Square and Na Příkopě Street. The multi-purpose complex also includes space for the installation of Alfons Mucha’s Slav Epic. The issue was prepared by J&T Banka and the bonds are also traded on the regulated market of the Prague Stock Exchange.

Czech developer Sekyra Group plans to launch the construction of the Rohan City development project in Q1 2021, lidovky.cz reports.

J&T Banka has acquired the eight-story Rustonka office complex in Prague 8 from Gramexo, which is part of a group of companies affiliated with the J&T Group, for €80 million (CZK 2.1 billion).

Penta Real Estate has sold the Churchill Square office complex near Prague’s main railway station for more than €150 million (CZK 4 billion) to Českomoravská Nemovitostní and Corporate Finance House Group. This is the largest office transaction on the Czech investment market this year. The acquisition was financed by German bank Helaba.

City Park Hostivař in Prague 10 has been acquired by a Western European investment company, represented by BNP Paribas Real Estate. The name of the buyer and the purchase price has not been disclosed.

The availability of housing in Prague has slightly improved this year, but it is still incomparably worse than in the surrounding metropolises. The inhabitants of Prague have to work 13.9 years for an average 70 sqm apartment. In Vienna, for example, such a purchase only cost 8.7 annual salaries. Compared to last year, a slight improvement was registered in 2020, but the effect of the coronavirus crisis has not yet been reflected in wage statistics, according to Czech residential developer Central Group.

Generali Real Estate S.p.A. has completed the acquisition of International Business Centre (IBC), an office building in Prague, from Mint Investments, on behalf of the pan-European “Generali Real Estate Core Plus” fund managed by Generali Real Estate S.p.A Società di gestione del risparmio.