How do we perceive this year at Colliers Czech Republic? According to Tewfik Sabongui, Colliers Managing Partner, the start of 2020 was filled with huge expectations, continuing our course in growing our business.

“In February, COVID-19 felt like a distant threat, something we believed was going to be contained in Asia. We were moving ahead with planning our MIPIM event and everything else. Little did we know. Like everyone else, overnight, we had to completely rethink our strategic approach,” explains Tewfik Sabongui and continues: “Colliers Czech was among the very first in our industry who allowed its people to work from home. A model which has always been supported, yet never fully tested, at least not to the required scale. They say, in every crisis, there are opportunities, and we had to tackle them. Instantly, all our teams were fully operational remotely. We conducted global and European surveys. We made it our priority to share the latest responses from all across the globe with clients. The past eight months are still a relatively short period to define clear trends, especially facing the start of the second pandemic wave, but certain things have been redefined, and will stay with us. Many meetings, negotiations and presentations can be done online, but the lack of physical contact is unthinkable. The feedback from a global survey answered by employees confirms the majority of us need to come to an ‘office’. It helps us be more productive, creative and engaged. So, will the office become obsolete, as many predict? Absolutely not! Occupiers may start looking for more flexibility, new solutions of how space is designed. Yet, an office will always be a destination where people come to socialize, work and be productive,” says Tewfik.

Office-single-point

Despite the difficult period, the Office Agency has been co-operating with interesting clients. “One of the new Czech market entrants has been Wrike, initially starting out with a few people. We found an immediate solution by providing flexible space in Business_link. Subsequently, we helped Wrike prepare a long-term plan for its gradual growth in the new building in DOCK IN Four, Prague 8, with a total area of almost 5,000 sq m,” says Petr Žalský, Head of the Office Agency.

With Colliers’ support, the world coffee producer, JDE, relocated from Smíchov to Skanska’s new ultra-modern Parkview building in Pankrác. The multinational pharmacists Alcon chose BB Centrum and its newly reconstructed building B in Prague 4. “For Fortinet, we recently expanded the office space in the Explora building in Nové Butovice area. We also secured modern offices in the Aspira office center for Mercedes-Benz Parts Logistics Eastern Europe. The company is very satisfied with both the new working environment and the location,” says Petr.

“We are especially proud of our work done for Mercedes-Benz,” highlights Lukáš Litera, Director of Building Consultancy, and adds: “The process started with a detailed workplace analysis steered by Colliers workplace advisory. An outcome of this exercise helped our architects design a space fulfilling all the employees’ needs.”

“All the clients above have used all three, or a combination of the related services we provide at Colliers: Design & Build, Project Management and WPA. And it was a pleasure to work with such important companies,” explains Petr.

Changing workplace

“This year, WPA assisted more than 10 clients during the last 12 months with the implementation of new ways of working. We helped companies such as Alcon, SAP, ZF Engineering, Clifford Chance, Edwards Lifesciences, Ferring, Mercedes-Benz Logistics Parts EE or HERO to re-desig their premises,” says Jana Vlková, Head of WPA.

A major long-term project of the WPA team is coming to life this year – UniCredit Bank is implementing its Smart Office at Filadelfie in Prague with Colliers’ complex assistance. This started with an analysis of ways of working, teams’ work requirements, completing with full assistance in change management communication.

Tomáš Drábek, Director of Retail and Private Banking at UniCredit Bank said about the project: “Our new Smart Office at UniCredit is interesting in the way it makes one feel at home.”

Property management

“The fight against a new challenge – the coronavirus pandemic fundamentally affected our activities in terms of financial planning, operational settings and technical measures that had to be applied to individual buildings,” says Matyáš Procházka, REMS, Director of the Property Management Department, and adds: “For this reason, we are very pleased that, despite objectively complicated circumstances, we managed to expand the portfolio of managed buildings by two interesting objects in the centre of Prague – the Albatros on Národní třída and the historic Spálená 21 building. The FID investment group proves that their owner, for whom we have also managed Slovanský dům, its flagship project for the fourth year in a row, is satisfied with our services and is expanding our scope of co-operation.”

Investment market: prediction

The Investment team are especially proud of this year’s Technology Park Brno deal. “We sold a 20,000 sq m manufacturing unit in Most on behalf of local developers to an international buyer,” says Andy Thompson, Head of Investment for CR and SR, and continues: “We also brokered the sale of the 25,700 sq m Grade A City West office building to CMN. Whilst investment volumes have cooled off, a number of off-market transactions are on-going. We anticipate that there may be more sales of distressed assets in 2021 across Europe as some sectors – especially parts of the hospitality and retail sectors – struggle as a result of the impact of Covid and the subsequent reduced demand from consumers.”

Valuation and advisory services

“This year will be another successful year with estimated valuations of approximately 150 properties from the office, I&L, retail and residential sectors, with value over EUR 7.5 billion,” says Vendula Maršová, Head of Valuations.

The team, amongst many other instructions, provides regular valuations for ČS nemovitostní fond, the largest mutual fund in the CR, managed by REICO investiční společnost České spořitelny, a.s. REICO’s sub-portfolio consists
of seven properties across three different countries totaling 166,200 sq m of gross leasable area and value in excess of EUR 500 mil. The team has three senior valuers, with the addition of another RICS qualified member this year.

Industrial & logistics

Colliers I&L team have been working with many end users including manufacturers, e-commerce and developers. The year 2020 has been challenging with massive disruptions in supply chains worldwide.

“We teamed up with a specialized company integrating Building management systems with the clients’ own internal systems. Having full data and power over the whole facility is helping to cut down on power usage, thus implementing savings,” explains Harry Bannatyne, Partner and Head of I&L.

“Our team has worked alongside over 20 clients this year with more deals ongoing throughout 2020. One deal we extremely value is helping Faurecia renegotiate (22,000 sqm) and expand their Czech operations (12,000 sq m) to ensure they received the best terms possible, mitigating risks where necessary. The Faurecia deal cements the great location of Nýřany and the trust of an International player successfully expanding its operations there.”

Informed decisions

In addition to our regular market reports, the Czech and CEE research teams were tracking trends impacting the real estate sector as a result of COVID-19. “So far, this year we carried out numerous online and in person meetings and presentations with clients to help them navigate these challenging times,” says Kevin Turpin, Head of CEE Research.

“This crisis was a good test for Colliers to show what the company and its people are made of, and I’m very proud of what I’ve seen. With expected changes in the pace of transactions and various speculations, we are still heading for another great year ahead of us. We are working with our clients, being supported by a great research team, providing the newest data and analytics to assist them in making the right decisions,” concludes Tewfik Sabongui.

Katarína Karmažinová / photo: Colliers international

Passerinvest Group belongs amongst the largest Czech development companies even though they are – with regards to their main operation in Prague 4 – actually a local developer and investor.

We were talking to Lenka Preslová, Business Manager at Passerinvest Group, a.s., about the supply of offices in Prague and demand for them as well as what the company is planning.

How do you see current supply and demand in Prague 4, which was and still is, attractive to your company?

The Prague 4 location – in our case I speak of the BB Centrum – does not lose its popularity even some years later. It is based on a stable foundation so I am convinced that it will retain this in future. It comes with an excellent availability of civic amenities and access to all services, which has become one of the most important criteria when selecting new offices. With regards to the fact that these things do not come up at once but are developed over the long term, the already established locations will always be an advantage over the newly developed or solitaire projects. New demands for premises are still coming even though we do note some decline due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The often-mentioned scenario regarding reduction of number of premises by companies does not show much yet but some optimization of the size of the premises will no doubt come up. there are also companies who are doing extremely well in these times and are looking at expansion. The currently reduced activity in the market is primarily caused by sitting tight and companies’ cautious approach to making strategic decisions whereby they tend to postpone them till later, once the situation calms down. With regards to supply, we have noted an increase in the volume of premises for lease. Based on the latest data from real estate agencies in Prague, the volume of premises for lease is nearing the 100,000 sq m level. The question is whether this segment will find suitable clients and to what extent it is to represent competition for the classic lease.

Where do you see the added value of the administrative buildings in the BB Centrum?

Administrative buildings in the market are now very comparable with their technical quality and specifications, so it is necessary to look for added value of a different character. With regards to the BB Centrum, it is, no doubt, its versatility of useful functions, a broad scale of services and civic amenities. BB Centrum today represents a fully-
-fledged modern city district, which we want to continue developing and improving. If I was to mention a particular advantage for tenants, it would be its large number and versatility of buildings, which allows us to provide various types of offices – from the smallest starting at 100 sq m in prime buildings to premises of several thousand square metres in modern glazed buildings. As lessor, we become long-term partners for companies and thanks to our portfolio of buildings, we can also respond flexibly and provide tenants with adequate premises, for instance for expansion, or to help them deal with reductions. We are aware of the fact that client’s requirements might change in time – especially in these times when added value no doubt gains on more and more significance.

What type of offices do your clients prefer?

We have all encountered terms such as activity-based workplace or agile workplace. However, the prevailing trend for our clients remains the combination of open and enclosed offices. With the emphases put on communal areas, mostly in the form of a common kitchen and with it associated seating areas intended for non-formal gathering of employees. What has also come to the fore in recent years are shared working places whereby the company establishes a smaller number of working places than the number of employees as they account for the fact that not all employees are continually present in the offices at the same time. And if they are, they can, for instance, use seating areas in relaxation zones. An interesting and more and more popular trend is also the trend of the utilization of mobile and flexible equipment, which can be easily relocated in case the premises need to be reorganized, without the need for reconstruction.

You have recently realized the comprehensive revitalization of the B building, which already has its first tenant. What is evident at first sight is the atrium that is open to the general public. How does it work at the BB Centrum with public areas and offer of services?

Public areas represent an important part of our approach to urban planning, where we develop an area comprehensibly as a whole and don’t only deal with individual buildings separately. That is the only way to create meaningful development projects that bring added value to both people and the city. Working environment does not only mean the area of the office anymore but also its immediate surrounding areas. That might represent an important factor for companies, for instance when gaining new employees. After repurchasing the buildings, working with public areas within the BB Centrum is easier for us and we are also happy for the positive feedback we get from those users who really appreciate the services provided within the complex. The last additions to the complex include the new Ellen G. White Square in front of the B building and the newly created inner block in this building, which is open to the public and complemented with water features, greenery and benches. The comprehensive reconstruction of Želetavská Street and the adjoining pavements and parterres on the ground floor will be completed before the end of the year.

Are you preparing some new projects in Prague next year and in years to come?

Our current project is the Residence Oliva, which is just prior to commencement. It is a prime residential building with 72 apartments situated within the location of the BB Centrum. We are pleased that there is a residential project ahead of us after all the administrative buildings. There is still significant demand for quality housing in the market and the lack of apartments in Prague has been a long-standing topic. I am also glad that we managed to fulfil our vision of the BB Centrum as not only a commercial complex as we also continue developing its other functions. During next year, we are planning the commencement of the development of the project Nové Roztyly, which is situated within the immediate vicinity of the Roztyly underground station and within the neighbourhood of Krčský Forest and which has been planned and anticipated for a long time. This area of an unutilized brownfield has been awaiting its premier for some time now. In future, there will be a new district with excellent transport access and with a broad scale of various functions such as housing, offices, shops, services and other civic amenities, including a nursery school and various sports grounds. After all, we have already managed to cultivate the four-hectare park with natural sports grounds, which now serves the general public. In the summer, we organised free of charge yoga lessons and early-evening runs through Krčský Forest.

What would you now recommend as the best offer from amongst your projects?

I firmly believe that all our projects may be included within the highest category from within a particular segment but the imaginary icing on the cake would be administrative premises, which are available within one of our iconic buildings – in Filadelfie. Since its completion in 2010, it was always nearly fully leased so opportunities for new tenants were limited. It hasn’t lost its exceptionality over the years and still offers exclusive and representative premises. The timeless architecture creates, in connection with amazing views, a unique combination. Moreover, we also decided to carry out an extensive facelift lobby for the main reception, which will now offer a pleasant environment in compliance with the latest design trends, including various types of seating and secluded places for meetings and gatherings.

PR

P3, the developer and manager of industrial properties, continue in their successful business expedition in the Czech Republic despite the coronavirus epidemic.

The company has great plans for Ostrava, where they are preparing to develop a modern multifunctional zone of the 21^st century in a remediated brownfield in Vítkovice. We discussed the epidemic’s influence on the operation of industrial real estate and company’s future plans with Tomáš Míček, Director of the Czech branch of P3.

We cannot but ask, in current times, about the influence the coronavirus has on your business. Did the epidemic scramble the world of industrial development?

Coronavirus mainly brought changes to practically everyday site of the industrial real estate operation but those are practically standard by now – tightened up hygienic measures, regular disinfections of premises and others. We still haven’t introduced any over standard overall restrictions due to the versatility of our customers, but we rather approach each and all of them individually.

Will this situation show up somehow in the long term?

Production and storage premises have an irreplaceable role within the economic environment and demand for them will continue growing over the long term and steadily despite the current crisis. We always conclude tenancy agreements for several years and do not feel any fundamental drop in interest in leasing. On the contrary, in e-commerce sector, we monitor a slight growth. We haven’t changed our plans regarding the development of new projects much.

Do you assess the year 2020 — at least its first half – as a successful year from P3’s point of view?

Certainly. Only in the first half of the year, we leased 170,000 sq m of premises, completed 77,000 sq m and commenced construction of a further 22,000 sq m, which we consider successful due to the general insecurity that has swayed through our society. We, for instance, welcomed XLMX, PPG Deco, Müller Technik and M. Preymesser logistika amongst our tenants, and also expended our co-operation with our existing tenants such as DHL, DB Schenker, Pet Center and Sazka. The project, which I no doubt consider pivotal, even crucial, this year, is the currently prepared development of the multifunctional park in Ostrava, which is being prepared at a brownfield in Ostrava centre, next to the Vítkovice complex.

Why did you decide to build in Ostrava in particular? What business potential do you see in this location?

From a business point of view, Ostrava is ideal. Following Prague, it is the second largest agglomeration with a sufficient amount of labour force and represents a strategic logistics and industrial junction from the point of view of the Czech Republic as well as within the framework of the Baltic-Adriatic railway corridor, through which some 24 million tons of goods come every year. This decision was also supported by the highly suitable plot available for this project – I believe that tenants will demonstrate enormous interest in the industrial park situated in the centre of the industrial town.

Can you outline details of the project? What tenant structure would you consider ideal for such a park?

Developers do not just come across such an opportunity on a daily basis, so we would like to approach the park as a multifunctional zone of 21^st century standards, which would be able to provide something to practically every tenant, whether it is retail, logistics or light production. Within the area of 160,000 sq m there will be 1,500 sq m to 35,000 sq m units. Those tenants specializing in the technical area such as logistics and light production will mainly appreciate its excellent connection to the D1 and D56 motorways and the I/11 A-road, high-capacity utility services within the complex and the potential to utilize the railway siding. Retail tenants will mainly find attractivity in the flexibility of the smaller units which can be utilized for storage facilities as well as a store or showroom. With regards to the location in the town centre and its good accessibility by public transportation, we can say that the retail premises will be highly sought after.

What can the locals expect from a park in this location?

The main contribution to Ostrava lies in the fact that the forty-hectare plot, which hasn’t been utilized in the long term and was left fallow will disappear from the surrounding development. The whole area was remediated and now can be revived again. The state and Vítkovice Group did a lot of work with regards to the remediation and preparation of the land for development and I would like to give them my thanks for that. In order to respect the history of this region and make the park fit the surrounding development, we co-operated on the project with local architect David Kotek, who is responsible for the design of many civic buildings within the region and prepared an ingeniously simple design that impressed us and we hope that Ostrava residents will also like it. We are at the birth of a project which is to state the direction in which the industrial development is to head in decades to come. We really do look forward to that!

PR

This year’s Development News magazine has chosen project Early Learning Village in Singapore as the Foreign Building of the Year, the creative design of the British studio Bogle Architects.

The architectural and design studio, founded in 2012 by Ian Bogle, is receiving awards worldwide. The team consists of a highly creative group of individuals sharing a common desire to design and build progressive, imaginative and innovative architecture. They work outside the studios in London and Prague and has another office in Hong Kong. He works in a wide range of prestigious domestic and international projects. The main philosophy of Bogle Architects is simple design solutions that solve the complexity of any project. The philosophy of practice is based on clarity of thought, broad involvement and the process of design collaboration in order to achieve a common goal.

We talked to the owner of the company, Ian Bogle, about the feelings from the award Stavba roku 2020.

What was your feeling to know that you became a winner of Czech prestige competition Stavba roku? How do you value that price and what does it mean for your international company?

 It is always nice to win any award as recognition by your peers is the best kind of appreciation. We’re now active in over 20 countries around the world so international recognition is very rewarding. 

Early Learning Village, Singapore – the project which got also the price of Development news. What is specific about this project? Who stands behind, and how would you introduce the project?

The building is a ‘one of a kind’ as a project on this scale, for early years’ children, has never been undertaken before. We had to go back to first principles of how to organize the circulation and way the building would work. This lead to placing the youngest children at the top, slightly counter intuitively, and the oldest at the lowest floors to minimise travel within the building. The articulation of the building’s form was driven directly out of the need for shading and for external play space off every single classroom. The ETFE canopies allow for weather protection all year around as while it is always hot in Singapore it also rains a lot!

      

The year 2020 is very specific due to the pandemic. How does that unusual situation affect the company, and how further impact do you see for whole real estate market in the countries you are active at?

It has certainly impacted on the amount of international travelling we would normally do as a business. The difficulties for designers working remotely is the fact that it’s not ideal for inspiration and the spark of creativity that happens sitting around a table. Sure, remote working has its place but it certainly not the future for designers who need to collaborate face to face – and not over the computer! We’ve seen the impact on sectors we didn’t expect particularly international schools where the uncertainty of the yearly intake has had an impact on decision making. We’ve also seen the life sciences sector increase in popularity and indeed there are covid testing and investigations going on in one of our buildings at the Oxford Science Park. 

What another project would you like to mention? What are you working on at the moment? Are your current projects affected by the pandemic crisis and how?

From our London studio, we’ve currently just completed a residential tower in Bogota, Colombia, nearly finished another ground-breaking school in Dubai, UAE and finishing off some student accommodation in Porto, Portugal. We also have some interesting residential projects in London, designing some unique projects in Saudi Arabia and recently added a really cool project in France to our portfolio. I’ll let Viktorie describe what we’re doing from our Prague studio.

What is your personal motto when it comes to your business activities?

Keep calm, carry on and focus … oh, and never give up trying to improve!

Kristina Vacková / Foto: © Infinitude

Ing. Michal Voplakal, Company Director of JORDAHL & PFEIFER Stavební technika s.r.o., believes that work on state procurements represents an obligation for a future generation.

“We must use the best technologies and knowledge just as with development projects. Keeping to deadlines is, due to problems that have arisen in the building industry as a result of COVID-19, only a beginning,” he says. This also applies to the new suspended footbridge, which is safely and securely anchored by PFEIFER cables and tension rods in the protected landscape area of Svatošské Rocks, which will welcome its first visitors ahead of time.

The Ohře River cuts into the granite massif near Karlovy Vary and creates a deep canyon. Gradual erosion formed a group of massive rock pillars, which human fantasy turned into the wedding procession of Jan Svatoš. This young man promised himself, according to legend, to a water nymph but did not keep to his promise and was turned into stone with all his procession. This beautiful place located in the middle of nature is a popular tourist destination and is visited by hundreds of cyclists and pedestrians a day during pleasant summer days. The original footbridge, which crowds of romantic lovers used to get to the rocks, is becoming worn out and a new one is necessary for safety. “Commencing construction in time of the busiest tourist season strengthened by the previous quarantine restriction was quite a challenge,” says Michal Voplakal with regards to the situation from the middle of this July.

Footbridges are pedestrian overpasses and structural engineers partially turn into architects during their construction and vice versa. The structure has such static reserves so that the footbridge fulfils its function even with one damaged cable suspender, which can happen during an accident or replacement of tension system members. The load-bearing capacity of the main load-bearing PFEIFER cables are hundreds of tons and the same applies to its lifespan, which is suggested for the structure of the footbridge. The traditional producer of the first-class steel cables PFEIFER is represented in the Czech market by JORDAHL & PFEIFER Stavební technika s.r.o. “All our components assist the structural engineers to fulfil their difficult mission – a lifelong responsibility,” reminds Michal Voplakal. The new footbridge constructed via investment from the Karlovy Vary region will also serve the integrated safety system for which access has so far been complicated. That also fits into J&P’s philosophy – safe structural solutions, which speed up construction time and make invested more efficient. Come and see for yourselves.

PR