Meanwhile…
It’s been a long time coming. Urban planners, city officials and some key local politicians have been working on Prague’s Metropolitan plan for 12 years now. For the past two years, the city has been working though a list of 45,000 objections to the plan from residents and stakeholders.
Finally, on Monday, the city unveiled the last draft of the document for a final round of public comments before an anticipated approval in spring 2026.
It would be difficult to overstate how big a step this represents. Prague was already growing rapidly when its current master plan was approved back in 1999. In retrospect, its rigid approach was never up to the task. Making changes to Prague’s master plan is a costly process that takes years, yet more than 2,000 were completed. Sponsors of each change must negotiate a path between indifferent state bureaucrats and zealous NIMBY warriors.
Assuming the new Metropolitan plan is approved next year, the process of building housing and transport infrastructure will become far, far more flexible. Once detailed development agreements are reached with local officials, for example, those plans will simply take effect. That seems normal, but until now, such agreements couldn’t take effect until a change to the master plan reflecting them were completed.
It's maddening that it took 12 years to establish such a functional, simple principle.
It goes without saying that Boháč didn’t get anywhere near everything he wanted. For example, height restrictions in Pankrac will mean that nothing taller than 70 meters can be built there. That means that should the owner of the existing highrises ever want to replace them, the new buildings would have to be shorter.
Then there’s the absurd situation surrounding high quality agricultural land. There’s now a rigid law that forbids it being used for development. That means the state forbids the city to plan for growth on such land, even if it’s located near a metro station. This is hopelessly backwards, since modern cities now promote high density development around transportation hubs.
In fact, there’s a common theme behind many of the Metropolitan plan’s delays: the state simply doesn’t care about the city’s development. I mean this in the most literal sense. The country’s laws don’t mandate the state to provide sufficient housing, schools or transport for Prague. It doesn’t take care, or responsibility, for such matters. Instead, the state’s role is to guard things like agricultural land and historical monuments.
That’s why land north of Černý most can’t serve as a development zone, even though it makes total sense. As Boháč says, it’s basically part of the city, in a place where there will never be any major farming. And you’ve already got metro and other transport infrastructure in place.
And it’s why the new Metropolitan plan forbids the construction of buildings taller than 70 meters. Even in Pankrác. Because the state’s heritage officials who happen to decide such matters think they're protecting Prague’s skyline.
This list goes on. "When a heritage official writes to us that they don't like the transport solution we came up with, we basically have to listen to them," says Boháč.
Heritage concerns are important for Prague, obviously. But how can a few officials in a small department have automatic veto power over matters of such critical importance? This fundamental imbalance of powers between city and state makes it even tougher for Prague to plan effectively for the future, and adapt to change.
Despite all the hurdles, a new plan is nearly in place. Let's hope it's approved without drama and that it's been constructed flexibly enough to serve for decades to come.
RE News
Get them while you can! Tickets, Tables and Partnerships are on sale for ThePrime Gala, which takes place on January 28, 2026 at Obecni dum. Remember, prices will go up as of Dec. 1. (corporate tables are currently CZK 88,500 + VAT).
YIT sold Building C with 69 units to Bytové družstvo Ranta Barrandov IV—the developer will construct the building as part of Ranta Barrandov's fourth phase in Prague 5. Construction began in July 2025, with completion scheduled for Q1 2027. The transaction follows YIT's earlier cooperative deals at Hyacint Modřany, Suomi Hloubětín, Rivi Bachova, and Portti Kladno. YIT is simultaneously building the project's third phase with 57 units and will launch sales of 29 fourth-phase apartments for private ownership by year-end.
Retail parks now command 22% of Poland's modern retail stock versus 9% in 2015. Anchored by discount retailers like Pepco and Lidl, parks earn €6–12 per sqm monthly for food tenants, €6–14 for non-food. Future expansion targets smaller cities with ESG-compliant, mixed-use developments as international investors including Saller Group and Immofinanz scale cross-border portfolios. CEE economies outpaced Western Europe, driven by household consumption and moderating inflation—Bulgaria posted 6.8% retail sales growth in June, Poland hit 4.8% in July.
According to the Prague Research Forum, Prague's office market recorded zero completions in Q3 2025, pushing 2025 toward historically minimal new supply of 26,600 sqm—just 30,700 sqm follows in 2026. Vacancy dropped 150 basis points y-o-y to 6.45%, with Prague 2 at 1.4% and Prague 8 at 3.4%. Gross take-up reached 176,200 sqm—up 33% annually—led by SAP's 27,900-sqm Metronom renewal in Prague 5. Renegotiations comprised 49% of activity as companies rationalized footprints amid hybrid work patterns. Prime city-center rents held at €29-€30 per sqm, though rising fit-out contributions inflate effective costs.
Caspyan Fund SICAV launched sales at its project Konstanta Karlín, on which construction kicked off in August. It’s expected to complete in Q2 2027. The one-year old fund has a 3-5 year pipeline of 450 residential units and targets 10% annual returns. Its Karlin-heavy portfolio includes the upcoming Dvory Vysočany brownfield.
EPG Group has reached the end of a €40 million modernization of Karlovy Vary's Varyáda shopping center. The work took two years to complete and was undertaken without closing the mall down. The investment raises the mall’s GLA by 33% to 27,000, including a 1,00-seat multiplex theater (Premier Cinemas). There’s also a 10-unit food zone, along with a 3,800 Albert hypermarket.
If you need office space in prime, central Prague locations, you’re out of luck. Q2 vacancy rates are stuck at zero in Prague 1, while the total volume of vacant office space in Prague vacanci fell from 81,000 sqm in Q2 2024 to just 49,000 sqm, according to Savills. That’s pushed prime headline rents up above €30 per sqm per month. Nearly half of all take-up in central Prague consisted of lease renewals. Prime investment yields have stabilized at roughly 5.2%.
Penta Real Estate has launched Penta Art, a platform intended to integrate artists, designers, and creators more systematically into development projects. Basically, the company aims to be a leader among private groups in commissioning art for public spaces. It’s collected 50 significant artworks worth hundreds of millions of crowns over the last 20 years, including pieces by David Černý and Tony Cragg, plus Masaryčka's CZK 500 million gold façade by Zaha Hadid Architects. It also held competitions which resulted in installations at Nová Waltrovka and Nuselský pivovar.
Correction: Last week’s edition reported on the sale at auction of Broadway Palace, including the erroneous comment that the theater using the building still held pre-emptive rights to purchase the property. I’m informed however that these rights are in fact held by the property company AFI.
People
-David Mazáček has assumed the role of CEO role at Upvest, succeeding the company’s founder David Musil. Mazáček joins from Crestyl after nine years where he served most recently as as Czech acquisitions director. At the same time, Jiří Čepán, who’s been with Upvest since 2018, was promoted to Chief Investment Officer. The platform has financed projects worth CZK 50 billion since 2017, specializing in real estate private debt.
-iO Partners launched Project & Development Services in Austria, appointing Aleksandra Dorninger-Potkonjak as head effective October 16, 2025. Based in Vienna, she'll collaborate with franchise partner OPTIN to advise clients from initial concept through operations. iO Partners entered the Austrian market earlier this year.
ThePrime Reader
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