CBRE has noted an increased interest in office space in Brno, where more than 57,000 sqm of office space was leased in 2016, making it the highest in demand on the office buildings market in the region, which has been continuously growing since 2014. This positive trend was supported by the construction of 43,300 sqm of new office buildings, which were delivered to the market in the second half of 2016. Ostrava is another important regional location on the office buildings market.
Brno, after the capital city, is the second most important destination on the office market. Take-up reached over 26,200 sqm of office space in the second half of 2016, representing a 14 percent decrease compared to the previous half year. Nevertheless, 2016 was the strongest in history in terms of demand. The largest non-confidential deals were the new lease of AT & T in Campus Science Park C, followed by the expansion of Edwards Services in Spielberg Tower with a total area of 3,600 sqm and the renegotiation of an existing lease agreement with Regus in Spielberk Office Center in the second half of 2016. The total modern office space in Brno stood at 525,100 sqm of which 80 percent was of Class-A quality. The city-wide vacancy rate slightly increased in Brno to 12.1 percent.
Katarina Wojtusiak, Director and Head of Advisory & Transaction Office of CBRE, said: “According to our data, interest in offices in Brno is constantly growing, with the strongest demand in this region in history being seen in 2016. For that reason, many new development projects have also been implemented. The construction of four buildings totalling 43,300 sqm was completed in the second half of 2016 in Brno, the office centres Dom, Campus Science Park C, CTOffice A2 and Campus Slatina. Another 44,300 sqm of office space is currently under construction.”
However, decreased interest in office space at the regional level was recorded in Ostrava, which is a much smaller market with a total volume of 208,400 sqm of modern office space. Take-up in the second half of the year 2016 reached 2,700 sqm represent in a 72 percent decrease compared to the first half of 2016. The largest deal in the period was a new lease of a confidential tenant at Axis Office Park Ostrava with an area of 1,500 sqm. A negative development is the fact that there were no new office buildings delivered to the market in 2016. However, there are two projects under construction in Ostrava, the office complexes Red House and ABC Alfa with a total area of 11,000 sqm, where construction is expected to be finished this year. A positive trend was the vacancy rate, which decreased to 19.7 percent in the second half of 2016.