According to HN daily, office demand rose by 76% y/y during 1H06 in Prague, when companies rented 159k sqm of office space there.
Our view:
The demand increased significantly, which is good news for Orco as its portfolio includes 30,000 sqm office space in recently opened leading project Luxembourg Plaza, additionally it plans to refurbish another 30,000 sqm of acquired office space “Na Porici” in 2007 and “build to lease” office space for Radio Free Europe. The increased demand and booming economy could drive the rent prices higher, which are still lower than in Western Europe. The office prime rates in Prague are some EUR 210/sqm, in comparison to EUR 300 – 400/sqm in other European centres.