In the first three months of the year a total of 168 300 m 2 of new industrial space was completed , which represents a year-on-year decrease (Q1 2018 vs. Q1 2019) of more than one fifth. Most of these premises were marketed with already secured tenants. Up to 40% of all new projects were delivered to the Moravian-Silesian Region thanks to the completion of Ostrava Airport Multimodal Park with an area of 56,300 m 2 .
Construction activity in the Czech Republic continued to grow slightly, with 521,700 m 2 currently under construction . It is interesting to note that more than half (56%) of new warehouse and industrial space is now being built on a speculative basis, ie without a known tenant . This is the highest proportion of speculative construction since 2010. Developers thus continue to respond to the very low vacancy in recent years, the persisting strong demand from potential tenants and the generally positive economic situation in the Czech Republic.
“The Czech Republic now has a total of 7.97 million m 2 of industrial and warehouse space, so we can soon expect the next major, 8 million milestone to be humiliated. We see an interesting development especially in the vacancy rate, which is still very low, but compared to the same period last year (4.2%) it rose to 4.8% in the Czech Republic. This is mainly due to speculative construction, which has been increasing for several quarters in a row. It has not reached pre-crisis values yet, but it is already above the European average compared to other markets. Nevertheless, the strong demand has been largely absorbed by these spaces during construction, so vacancy for the European average is not out of the question, ” said Blanka Vačkova, Head of Research at JLL .
The gross demand realized in the first quarter amounted to 384,700 m 2 , up 24% from the previous quarter, but down 6% from the same period last year. On the contrary, net realized demand grew by 50% year-on-year, compared to the previous quarter, to 277,400 m 2 . Demand was driven by manufacturing companies, which were behind more than half of the net demand, followed by logistics companies with a 26% share of net demand.
The highest prime headline rent in Prague remains stable at 4.00 - 4.50 EUR / m 2 per month, in the South Moravian Region 4.20 - 4.50 EUR / m 2 / month. Rents for built-to-suit projects in low-competitive locations are usually higher.
Source / photo: www.retrend.cz / Jones Lang LaSalle sro
