Skanska sold the Corso Court building in Karlín for 55 million euros

Prague - The Swedish construction company Skanska has sold the office building Corso Court in Prague's Karlín district. The building was acquired for 55 million euros (approximately 1.5 billion CZK) by a fund managed by the global investment management company Invesco Real Estate. Skanska announced this in a press release today. The Czech branch of the company completed the building this year according to the design of Catalan architect Ricard Bofill.

"After last year's sale of the Riverview building, this is the second property we have sold to Invesco Real Estate, and we hope it won't be the last," said Marie Passburg, the CEO of Skanska Property Czech Republic.

The seven-story Corso Court building offers 17,200 m² of office space. The project is already 100% leased directly to Skanska and the company Expedia. Both firms will move in by the end of the year.

According to a June study by analytical companies CEEC Research and KPMG Czech Republic, the supply of vacant office space in Prague currently significantly exceeds demand. The study states that the office vacancy rate is expected to reach 18.5% by the end of the year.

"The current situation in the market is most significantly influenced by the influx of just completed projects. However, the construction of office projects is a long-term matter, and the market situation may change within two to three years," said Pavel Kliment from KPMG today to ČTK.

The director of the analytical company CEEC Research, Jiří Vacek, pointed out that investments from international real estate firms, similar to today's, typically do not take short-term market fluctuations into account. "These funds make their investments with a perspective of the long-term market development, and that is positive for Prague," Vacek told ČTK today. He added that the current surplus of office space supply in Prague over demand creates enormous pressure on rental prices, from which customers, i.e., tenants, benefit.

The Skanska Group is one of the world's leading development and construction groups. In Europe and the USA, it currently employs about 57,000 people.

The Czech subsidiary Skanska Property Czech Republic specializes in the development of commercial real estate. It has been active in the Czech market since 1997.

The total area of modern offices in Prague exceeded three million square meters this year. Last year alone, developers completed 150,000 m² of new administrative space, with the same amount currently under construction. By the end of the first quarter, half a million square meters of administrative space were vacant.