The trouble with Kotva
For the first time, the department store's embattled general director speaks out

House on top of a house
How an Irish pubtrepreneur found a home in the attic

Smichov emerging as secondary city center
Sleek new media center adds to Andel area's burgeoning importance and glittery skyline

In with a splash
Germany's DIFA invests 180 million euros in Central European properties

Exercises in excellence
Warsaw ceremony honors best of Central European real estate

RE BRIEFS

INVESTMENT • German investment fund DIFA Deutsche Immobilien Fonds AG has purchased 49-percent stakes in four properties in the Czech Republic, advisors Cushman & Wakefield Healey & Baker have announced. The deals include office buildings Danube House and Technopark, and two Olympia shopping centres in Mlada Boleslav and Teplice. Meanwhile, DIFA has also acquired the Hadovka property company. EXPANSION • Czech mortgage broker Hyposervis has acquired a 60 percent stake in Hypocentrum, Slovakia's top mortgage broker, counting on increasing demand for mortgages through dozens of housing projects in Bratislava. In the Czech Republic, Hyposervis has arranged over 2,500 mortgages worth 3.1 billion Kc ($133 million). DEAL • Hannover Leasing of Germany has entered the Prague real estate market by purchasing the Prague City Center office building from European Property Group for an undisclosed sum, writes the newspaper Euro. The buyer was CEE-Invest, a Hannover Leasing subsidiary. A Hannover spokeswoman said the firm is seeking other potential acquisitions in the Czech Republic. LAUNCH • Real Estate Karlin-Palac, owned by Real Estate Karlin Group, has begun the reconstruction of Residence Kollarova 14, a 19th-century apartment building in Prague 8. It is the group's first housing project. When completed in December 2005, the project will have 20 apartments, two administrative premises, parking and cellars. The average price of the apartments stands at 51,000 Kc ($2,200) per square meter, plus VAT. SNAPSHOT • Prague's office market stock stood at 1.66 million square meters (17.86 million square feet) at the end of 2004, CB Richard Ellis reports in a recent market overview. Office take-up, including a few lease renegotiations, totaled about 131,500 square meters last year. Take-up dropped sharply from 2003's record figures, which were driven by large deals. Total development completions in 2004 stood at 150,000 square meters, with over half delivered in the fourth quarter (including the Forum, Pankrac House, Arena Holesovice, Tokovo, The Park building 6, building A of Andel Park, and Green Towers). Total vacancy rate rose from 11.5 percent at the end of 2002 to 12.5 percent at the end of 2003 and to approximately 15 percent at the end of 2004. The vacancy for new-build office space is currently 13.2 percent, while 18 percent of modern refurbished space throughout Prague is vacant. Monthly prime office headline rent has remained relatively stable at 19 euros (570 Kc/$24) per square meter for the last three years, with some downward pressure. LOANS • The country's six building and loan societies granted loans worth almost 40 billion Kc ($1.72 billion) last year, up 22 percent from 2003. Most customers still use building societies to save money, however, with only a third taking loans. Stavebni Sporitelna Ceske sporitelny (SSCS) posted the fastest growth in loan volume, up 61 percent. Ceskomoravska stavebni sporitelna, the largest building society, granted loans worth 19.5 billion Kc -- more than twice the volume of SSCS, its closest competitor, which clocked in at 8.4 billion Kc. Other results: Modra pyramida 6.5 billion, Raiffeisen stavebni sporitelna 2.7 billion and Wustenrot 2.6 billion Kc. Overall, the building societies' 6 million clients owed them 85 billion Kc. FEES • Building and loan societies will not lower their fees to the 1999 level, rejecting last year's edict from the antitrust office, Hospodarske noviny writes. Instead, they will announce a freeze on their current fees. RENT • The regional development ministry has produced a draft rent-control law offering various deregulation scenarios for politicians to choose from, according to Mlada fronta Dnes. Minister Jiri Paroubek is said to support an annual 10 percent cap on rent-level increases. WATCHDOG • Conservation authorities are seeking more power in protecting the country's architectural heritage, reports Mlada fronta Dnes. Officials are preparing an amendment that would expand their jurisdiction and allow for higher fines. The measure could be submitted to the Parliament in mid-2005. RISE • Prices of residential and commercial construction lots rose sharply in 2004, Hospodarske noviny reports. They now fetch up to 50 percent more than a year before. ASIA • Czech architects and contractors have built an upscale residential district in the Mongolian capital Ulan Baatar, according to Lidove noviny. Some 30 apartments and six villas were commissioned by Altar Taria, a Mongolian company owned by a couple who learned Czech during their studies in Prague. The project is valued at "hundreds of millions of crowns" and was designed by BKN, while Hanzl was the building contractor. Star Apartments is used by employees of embassies and international organizations. HIRES • Colliers International has hired three new employees. Pavel Smid joined the company as an Industrial Associate and Tomas Kosina as an Investment Analyst. Lucie Kuricova is the newest addition to Colliers' Marketing and Market Research Department. Meanwhile, CB Richard Ellis has hired Milos Kocian as an office agent.