Coffee with Craig Show – daily CRE news covering the CEE region in PANATTONI CAFE with Craig Smith, Publisher and Founder of EuropaProperty.com and Winston Norman, Editor and Chief of EuropaProperty.com.
39 new brands entered the Czech market last year
39 new brands entered the Czech retail market last year, a record number achieved in the past ten years, says Cushman & Wakefield. Two major new arrivals to the Czech market last year were the American lingerie brand Victoria’s Secret, which opened its first local store in Prague’s Westfield Chodov shopping centre. Another major brand is the American fast food chain Popeyes, which opened a store in Dům módy on Prague’s Wenceslas Square.
Jan Kotrbáček, Head of Retail Agency, Central and Eastern Europe, Cushman & Wakefield, commented: “The Czech market, and Prague in particular, is attractive for retail brands and remains their main gateway to the CEE region. A very important factor for the entry of international brands is the fact that the Czech Republic, and Prague in particular, is also a very important European and world tourist destination, where tourists form a very significant part of the clientele of foreign shops, especially in the centre of Prague and in major shopping centres, where new brands most often open their first stores; they then expand to other Czech cities.”
Retail dominates commercial real estate investment volume in 2023
The retail sector was the driver of real estate investment in 2023, accounting for almost half of the total investment volume says Savills.
“The dominance of the retail sector in this year’s transaction volume is an interesting change to what we’ve seen in recent years,” says Fraser Watson, Head of Investment at Savills. “Reflecting on what could be behind this change we observe a few elements. Perhaps the most relevant is the fact that retail assets had already experienced a downward price shift pre-pandemic. Another aspect contributing to retail’s appeal is the fact that post-pandemic spending in brick-and-mortar stores has rebounded strongly, demonstrating that physical retail assets have a bright and sustainable future, and do have the ability to fend off competition from e-commerce. A final factor is considered to be that in most cities across the country, there will be no further significant development of shopping centres. This allows investors to predict and evaluate the longer-term future in terms of competition, giving more stability and certainty. We expect that retail as an asset class will continue appealing to investors in 2024.”
CEVA Logistics takes 32,500 sqm to service Signify at Panattoni Park Piła
Upon completing the first building of Panattoni Park Piła, Panattoni immediately launched another development with an area of 38,500 sqm. A total of 85 percent of this new space is to be occupied by CEVA Logistics, a leader in 3PL logistics, to service Signify (formerly known as Philips Lighting).
“To take advantage of the market’s potential, an appropriate stock of modern industrial space is required so upon completing the development of BTS facilities as well as a building in our first park we again launched construction work and already within two months we will be delivering almost 40,000 sqm,” commented Dorota Jagodzińska-Sasson, Managing Director at Panattoni. “We want to create buildings that perfectly meet the needs of many industries in many locations both across Poland and Europe.
Interest in industrial park sustainability is growing
With the upcoming introduction of mandatory non-financial reporting, which will require companies to report on how they are performing in the areas of environment, employee relations and responsibility, and ethical working practices, industrial and logistics companies are taking a keener interest in sustainable solutions.
Research by Colliers shows that the sustainability issue has so far been most commonly addressed by large multinationals, who expect properties to be equipped with sustainable technologies such as heat pumps, heat recovery units, energy-efficient smart lighting and photovoltaics. Colliers predict that interest in this topic will also increase next year but among smaller local companies.
“We are entering an era of growing interest in sustainability in all areas of our lives. From individual activities such as waste sorting to political visions of energy self-sufficiency to commercial strategies – everything now revolves around ESG factors. It’s no surprise then that even real estate tenants – industrial and logistics companies themselves – are taking an interest in this trend. The growing emphasis on sustainability and ESG is particularly evident in large global companies. This commitment is naturally reflected in their local operations and property selection,” says Miroslav Kotek, Head of Industrial Real Estate at Colliers.
