Colliers International Czech Republic announced the appointment of Vendula Marsova, MRICS, as its new Head of Valuation and Advisory Services. Vendula started her position in November 2019 and in her new role, she will focus on driving the continued growth and success of the firm’s valuation division; improving client experience, developing relationships and optimising the CRE valuation service delivery model.

Värde Partners, a leading global alternative investment firm, entered into a definitive agreement to sell a portfolio of eight luxury hotels operating under The Dedica Anthology brand to Covivio, a European real estate operator, through its subsidiary Covivio Hotels. The portfolio includes New York Palace and New York Residence in Budapest and Carlo IV in Prague.

Star Capital Investments has acquired Lighthouse Towers, a Class A office building in Prague 7’s thriving Holešovice district. The seller was Deka Immobilien. The property comprises two stand-alone buildings joined at the underground parking level, where 360 parking spaces are provided.

In Q3 2019, the total office stock in Prague reached 3.59 million sqm, according to Colliers International. Completions include two new and one refurbished property: Dock In Three in Prague 8 (16,000 sqm), Argentinská Office Building in Prague 7 (5,800 sqm) and the refurbished Life Building C in Prague 4 (11,100 sqm).

Prologis has started the development of a 21,000 square meter speculative facility at the fully occupied Prologis Park Prague-Uzice in the Czech Republic. The facility will be completed in Q2 2020 and it will offer flexible space solutions for all types of business – logistics/storage or production, with unit sizes starting at 4,500 square meters. It has further development potential for up to another 42,000 square meters.

European office take-up is forecast to reach 9.2 million sqm by the end of 2019, down 4% from 2018’s end-year volume. Prague is expected to exceed that decline, with take-up predicted to fall by 22% to 400,000 sqm as demand for office space in the Czech capital continues the downward trend that began in Q2, according to the latest Savills research.

Flow East announced the topping out of its landmark project being constructed on Wenceslas Square (Václavské náměstí) as contractor Metrostav placed the last beam atop the structure.

The Greenline office building, located in the heart of the Prague 4 business district, has been purchased by WOOD & Company from property developer Karimpol International. WOOD & Company’s real estate funds invest in commercial real estate (office buildings and shopping centres), and are among the best-performing funds in the market. With the acquisition of The Greenline, the market value of the fund's assets has exceeded €500 million.

The market value of office buildings in the Czech Republic and in Prague, in particular, has continued growing as a result of steady demand and insufficient supply. Yields from premium office schemes in Prague currently range around 4.3 percent. Aggregate investments in commercial properties in the Czech Republic for the first three quarters of 2019 amounted to €2.5 billion (almost CZK 64 billion), according to Cushman & Wakefield.

The share of private sector student accommodation in Prague stood at 6% of the total stock of purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) in October 2019, up slightly from the 5% recorded at the same time last year, according to the latest Savills research.