The appearance of Czech industrial parks is shifting away from grey warehouses surrounded by parking lots. According to an analysis by Colliers, developers are investing more and more not only in buildings’ technical specifications but also in their appearance, green spaces and employee amenities. In this regard, the Czech market is catching up with developed Western European countries, such as Germany.
The transformation is already evident in the very appearance of the buildings. Developers are striving to break up visually the large volumes of facilities or, conversely, to integrate them with their surroundings. As a result, facades are often adorned with greenery, works of art or motifs referencing local history. For example, the main facade of a distribution centre for a global fashion chain at Panattoni Park Cheb features a motif of houses from the city’s historic centre. The building, with a total floor area of over 200,000 sqm, has a facade measuring nearly 700 meters in length and 15 meters in height.
Similar approaches are emerging elsewhere. In Humpolec, industrial buildings display sgraffito on their facades, and the former Trnka family textile factory (later Hall No. 8 of the Sukno state-owned enterprise) has been transformed into a cultural-industrial space and the 8smička contemporary art gallery. “Brownfield sites often preserve original industrial elements, such as exposed brickwork or steel beams, combining them with modern technologies while minimising new land use by leveraging existing urban infrastructure,” says Desanka Timkovská of Colliers.
Natural elements are also becoming part of these complexes. In addition to planted trees and flower-filled meadows, industrial parks now feature hundreds of beehives. At some industrial parks, such as the one along the D1 highway near Ostředek, herds of sheep graze on grassy areas instead of maintenance teams using motorised mowers.
“The image of an industrial park as a collection of anonymous warehouses on the outskirts of town no longer reflects reality in many cases. The quality of the environment is much more important today than it used to be; companies are focusing on architecture, the amount of greenery and places where employees can spend their breaks. As a result, industrial zones are increasingly becoming more like campuses,” says Desanka Timkovská.
Employee accessibility is key
Highway access is crucial for industrial sites, but the importance of accessibility for employees (that is, proximity to railways, public transportation or bike paths) is also growing. This is evident in Ostrava, for example, where the city benefits from a large number of brownfield sites. Developers now build new projects directly within the urban fabric rather than in isolated zones far from population centres.
The transformation of manufacturing itself is also increasingly influencing site selection: operations are becoming more automated and technologically demanding, so manufacturing companies are seeking not only production workers but also technicians, automation specialists, engineers, IT experts and production management specialists. Colliers sees this trend among a growing proportion of companies. This also underscores the importance of proximity to technical universities.
Consequently, interest is also growing in regions outside the traditional quartet of Prague, Brno, Plzeň and Ostrava, where land prices and wages are already high. The completion of key highway sections (the D3 highway connecting Prague to Linz, the D52 highway connecting Brno to Vienna and the expansion of Prague’s D0 ring road and the Moravian D35) is expected to ease this situation. Thanks to these projects, new regional centres such as České Budějovice, Olomouc, Přerov, Vysoké Mýto and Svitavy have caught investors’ attention. In these areas, labour is more affordable, and rents range between €5.20 and 5.80/sqm/month, while in the Prague area they range between €7.00 and 7.50/sqm/month.
Higher quality also pays off financially
The higher standard of Czech industrial real estate also shows in these projects’ economics. Construction costs in the Czech Republic are higher than in Poland, the country’s main regional competitor, due to stricter building codes, slower and more complex permitting processes and more expensive materials and labour. However, according to Colliers, companies selecting a location should not base their decision solely on the initial construction cost or the rent. “Compared to Poland, the Czech Republic has long had lower service fees associated with building operations. These remain at a level of €0.75 to 1.00/sqm/month. Combined with lower energy consumption in modern, certified buildings, total operating costs in the Czech Republic may be more advantageous for tenants in the long run than what the higher initial price would suggest,” notes Desanka Timkovská.
The market is growing, but demand structure is changing
In the first half of 2026, developers added 446,200 sqm of new industrial and logistics space to the Czech market; the vast majority, specifically 69%, was built in Prague and the Central Bohemian Region. Approximately 1.46 to 1.7 million sqm is currently under construction in more than 170 parks across the country, with 42% being built speculatively by developers (that is, without a signed tenant). CTP Invest clearly dominates the market, accounting for 45% of all ongoing construction. Approved but not yet started projects represent over 2.7 million sqm of space, and another roughly 2.5 million sqm is awaiting approval; thus, the potential future supply exceeds 5.2 million sqm.
The vacancy rate has risen to 5.5%, representing roughly 753,400 sqm of immediately available space: the highest level since the third quarter of 2015. According to Colliers, however, this remains a healthy level approaching natural market equilibrium. It also gives tenants room for rapid expansion.
Meanwhile, a shift toward manufacturing is becoming evident in demand composition. While e-commerce and purely distribution-focused companies dominated the market in the first half of the decade, in the second quarter of 2026, manufacturing companies accounted for 41% of gross realised demand, with logistics and distribution each accounting for 21%. According to Colliers, this shift is also driven by ongoing nearshoring (that is, the relocation of manufacturing and key supply chain hubs closer to European markets).
