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Articles by Robert Mclean
Jakub Kodr (CTP): We’re building neighborhoods
CTP wants the people working in its parks to stay for lunch, a padel match and in some cases even overnight. At CTPark Brno, where about 10,000 people already work for tenants including Honeywell, Garrett Motion and Thermo Fisher Scientific, managing director Jakub Kodr says the developer is adding 160 rental flats for managers and employees. Coworking is also coming, along with a kindergarten, physiotherapy, and a technology hub where students can work alongside tenants.
Energy now a deal breaker for industrial schemes
Industrial real estate has spent years arguing about land, labor and rents. At Expo Real in Munich last week, a panel on the resilience of European logistics markets kept returning to something more basic: whether a site can get enough electricity.
Letter: Costa a good option for election
Lou Costa is standing in the 2026 state election as an independent. Photo by Rechelle Zammit Lou Costa presents voters in the Shepparton electorate with a rare and precious opportunity at the November 28 State election.
Seeking a conversation on climate change
Let’s talk about climate change. Anecdotal and formal research confirms that many people in the Goulburn Valley want action on climate change. Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content In fact, an organisation set up by journalists, for journalists, has found that more than 80 per cent of people want to see immediate climate action. And just last week at the ‘Nurturing Nature with Costa’ event in Tatura, that concern had a local emphasis.
Spaceflight-induced changes in polymicrobial biofilm population and structure
Abstract Biofilms represent a common mode of bacterial growth, including the water recovery system (WRS) in spacecraft. Several factors have been associated with biofilm structure, including shear forces, microbial community composition, and available nutrients and other culture conditions.
Benchmarking automated MIC detection: the AI-ready space biology SEM dataset and advanced detection methods
Abstract Microbial-induced corrosion (MIC) severely threatens the structural integrity of metals in high-stakes environments, from aerospace to terrestrial infrastructure. Rapid, reliable detection is essential for informed mitigation and maintenance. The paper presents a computer-vision pipeline that establishes a new benchmark for MIC region segmentation in scanning electron microscopy (SEM) imagery.
Daniel Navratil (Wilsons): Competition for RE transactions is intense
Looking at your LinkedIn page, you seem to have had a series of asset transactions. How much of that is Wilsons and how much is it a sign of a busy market? It’s a combination of both. We’ve been trying our best to be active in the market and have been quite successful over the last couple of years. You do a lot of leasing work as well, but the big transactions are important for the bottom line, and for visibility.
A story of Broken Hill’ by Robert McLean
For the traveller driving into Broken Hill, the dusty red-soil verge of the highway gives way to the city’s distinctive deep gutters designed to cater for the occasional heavy downpour which punctuates the otherwise dry climate. From open highways to suburban streets and the neon glow of motels and pubs, Broken Hill arrives as if by magic. There is no fragmented city edge with rural acres and lifestyle blocks.
Komárek’s KKCG closes £291 million deal for BP’s London HQ
KKCG Real Estate Group paid £291 million for 1 St James’s Square, the West End building that has served as BP’s London headquarters since 2001. The seller is Hong Kong’s Lifestyle International Holdings, which picked up the 0.54-acre freehold for £250 million in a 2020 sale-and-leaseback — implying a 16% premium. On the other hand, the building now carries planning consent for 17% more floor area.
Bezrealitky’s name and fees sparks real estate agency civil war
Czech regulators opened a probe into Bezrealitky after the Association of Real Estate Agencies filed a complaint alleging unfair commercial practices. At issue is Komfort, a full-service brokerage product the platform launched earlier this year that charges 1.5% of the sale price plus VAT — covering valuation, marketing, viewings, contracts, escrow, and land registry filing. All the seller has to do is open the front door.
A walk through Hila with Eduard Forejt (Passerinvest)
Passerinvest Group’s Hila building topped out in May, measuring 55 meters and 15 storeys tall. It’s the first project in the Brumlovka district to combine offices, residential and retail under one roof. On a recent walk-through of the building, Passerinvest’s Eduard Forejt laid out for me what sets it apart. A passage, not a shopping center The building’s ground level is organized around a passage connecting two bus stations and the neighboring park.
Penta joins J&T and AKIPIA to develop Bubny megaproject
Decades of false starts and stagnation ended last week for 250,000 sqm of the 110 ha Bubny brownfield in Prague 7 when Penta Real Estate revealed it will develop the former railyards. This is arguably the biggest piece of news to hit Prague’s real estate sector in the last 20 years, matched only by the original sale of the land to Orco before the financial crisis. But that’s not the surprising part.
Vestecka spojka EIA filing key to new Pruhonice development zone
Pragoprojekt filed an EIA submission for the Vestecká spojka on August 11, a two-lane road that would provide a direct connection between the D1 motorway (Exit 4) and the D0 ring road’s Vestec exit. Traffic engineers are no doubt happy about progress on the new route, having argued for decades that it would be necessary. But it’s the land owners along the route near the D1 that have the most to gain. In particular, 80 ha of agrictultural land that’s zoned for commercial and residential use.
Lenka Kocianová (Savills): Small Business Units have huge potential
Small business units make up a sliver of Czech industrial stock, five regions have none at all — and 2026 is shaping up as the segment’s second-best year on record. I spoke with Savills’ industrial consultant Lenka Kociánová about this slice of the market. At the moment, she says SBUs account for roughly three percent of total Czech industrial stock. Amazingly, five of the country’s 14 regions have no modern units whatsoever.
Hanson’s plan stirs outrage
ABC Friends Goulburn Valley members discuss Pauline Hanson's ABC subscription proposal. Photo by Megan Fisher Goulburn Valley Friends of the ABC are concerned about Pauline Hanson’s idea that many people would have to pay a subscription to access services provided by the independent national broadcaster.
Cresco thinking big with Žižkov Yards
Cresco Real Estate now holds 1,600 flats in its Prague pipeline and is already hunting for a fourth project. Aleš Svatoň, CEO of the Slovak developer’s Czech operations, says the speed has surprised even them. But what has surprised him more is Prague’s ability to coordinate. Cresco’s Czech footprint started to emerge with the purchase of Metropolitan, an office building in Holešovice the company continues to operate.
Book of the Week: Who gets to call Aotearoa home
The main way the outside world gets inside New Zealand is that people from elsewhere come here. In Edges of Empire: The politics of immigration in Aotearoa New Zealand, 1980–2020, social scientists Francis L. Collins, Alan Gamlen and Neil Vallelly attempt a critical reading of how New Zealand transformed itself from a colonial outpost into a ‘megadiverse’ neoliberal hub, both of which are anathematic towards te ao Māori.
Hamish White (REM Group): Budapest yields could converge towards Prague levels
What’s changed for you and the Hungarian property sector since the elections that brought down the last governmnet? I was contacted by a number of people I’ve known from the past, and they’ve all indicated an interest to look at Hungary again. That’s good from my vantage point, because it hasn’t always been easy to show the value-add potential of Hungary. I’m enjoying this new wave sensation.
Thunberg's climate call: why facts alone aren't enough
Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg sparked a global climate movement at just 15. Photo: AAP EPA/Mads Claus Rasmussen. Photo by Mads Claus Rasmussen Stories about climate change should have been dominating the world’s media in 2018 according to the then Swedish teenager, Greta Thunberg.
Rita Šafránková & Jiří Vančura (Trinity Bank): We’re targeting CZK 65bn
Trinity Bank operates a loan book of CZK 33 billion, almost all of which is credited to corporate real estate borrowers. It’s currently pursuing an aggressive expansion strategy through capital raises, the goal being to double its book to CZK 65 billion by 2029. That means handing out roughly CZK 15 billion annually, says Jiří Vančura, director of RE financing. I sat down with him and with Head of RE acquisitions Rita Šafránková to discuss Trinity’s strategy and goals.
Tomáš Kadeřábek (Assoc. of Developers): A giant leap for planning!
Not only has Prague passed the Metropolitan plan in recent weeks, but the amended construction act now looks one Senate vote away from approval. That would be real progress on what investors have been asking for decades. So I caught up online with Tomas Kaderabek of the Asociace developerů on Friday afternoon to get his take on the huge planning changes recently. He says the biggest shift for planners and developers would result from greater simplicity and the embrac of density.
Small Business Units head for near-record year
Czech developers will deliver an estimated 46,900 sqm of Small Business Unit space this year, making 2026 the sector’s second-strongest on record. Only 2007 saw more. The data comes from a Savills analysis of Grade A industrial units capped at 1,000 sqm GLA. Supply is the constraint, not demand. In fact, Savills found leasable SBU space in just four of the country’s 14 regions. Five regions still have none at all.
EU customs crackdown turns Chinese parcel flood into warehouse demand
DHL CEO Ludek Drnec called the 1 July launch of the EU’s EUR 3 per-item customs duty “D-Day” for Chinese marketplaces. Czechia illustrates why: the country processed 106 million low-value shipments in the first half of 2026 alone, already surpassing the full-year 2025 total of 105 million, up from just 2.3 million in 2023. That flood — 91% of it from China — previously bypassed European warehousing entirely. Now it has to find a new route. And that’s good news for industrial landlords.
Penta launches 340-flat phase at Bratislava’s Bory quarter
Penta Real Estate kicked off sales for the next phase of its Bory Bývanie development in northwest Bratislava, adding roughly 340 apartments across six buildings. Construction starts this autumn on the building, which will range from four to eight storeys, with completion slated for 2029. The phase, marketed as Bory Nové Bloky, is immediately adjacent to Bory Hospital and Bory Mall.
CTP hands over 11,500 sqm to Saint-Gobain Sekurity Servit
CTP handed over 11,500 sqm of new distribution space at CTPark Česká Lípa to Saint-Gobain Sekurit Service, the aftermarket division of the French glass manufacturer. The facility will serve as a consolidation hub for replacement automotive glass headed to markets across Europe. The operational logic is straightforward.
Pavel Velebil (Tide Reality) describes the 4 types of investment flat buyers
As residential prices rise in Prague, the circle of Czechs who can afford them is getting progressively smaller. On the other hand, there seems no slowing the parade of Czechs looking to buy flats as an investment. So, to what extent are developers now depending on customers who are more interested in their ROI than they are in the brand of the dishwasher in their new home? That’s the question I had for Pavel Velebil (Tide Reality) one of Prague’s most experienced residential professionals.
Roads demand new thinking
Roads, highways, freeways and byways in the Goulburn Valley are used and abused. Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content Trucks, cars and whatever wheeled vehicle you can name are the prime users and, naturally, through that use are the prime abusers. However, there is another critical abuser — the weather. Yes, our road network, as immovable as it is, is vulnerable to the machinations of the weather, be it hot, cold, wet or dry.
Miroslav Barnas (ARETE): C. European logistics still the best yield opportunity
How would you compare the liquidity of the Czech market compared to Poland? It’s a complex question. The Czech market is dominated by local capital, to an almost ridiculous degree. You don’t have that in Poland, even if the market share of local capital has increased recently to around 30% from just single digit. It’s still low in comparison to the rest of Europe. In the Czech Republic, I describe the capital as conditional, meaning it may not be around tomorrow.
Penta and DBK Praha announce Budějovická design competition
Penta Real Estate and DBK Praha have put the fate of one of Prague’s most awkward sites open to an international design contest. The partners launched ‘Nová Budějárna’ this week, an eight-team urbanistic competition to redraw the fragmented territory wrapped around the Budějovická metro station in Prague 4. It’s a 4 ha area framed by the streets Budějovická, Olbrachtova, Poláčkova and Antala Staška.
There’s no excuse for looking the other way
Rarely does a ready-made reporter walk through the door, especially one with no real experience. Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content Well, that happened decades ago at Echuca’s Riverine Herald when a man of the world joined the staff. However, he wasn’t really a man, rather he was just a boy who had finished Year 12 and then spent a year in Canada as a Rotary exchange ctudent.
Martin Balazs (Prologis): We can develop 180,000 sqm around Prague
Is Prologis pushing for growth right in the next few years? Or are you in asset management at the moment with your Czech portfolio? Everyone’s goal is to grow, but there are two ways to do it. You can grow the value or the size of your portfolio. We are targeting both. To grow in size, you either need to acquire your competition and/or their parks, or else you need to develop your land bank.
Prague new-flat prices climb 2.1% as supply slides toward exhaustion
Prague new-flat asking prices climbed 2.1% quarter-on-quarter to CZK 180,300/sqm in Q1 2026, according to the Deloitte Develop Index — slower growth than last year, but driven by a supply side that keeps shrinking. The number of flats on offer collapsed 6.7% to 6,781 units across 313 projects, with the total offered floor area down 7.6% to 434,239 sqm.
Penta moves BASE flex offices to Chalupkova, hands Tepláreň coworking to Alto
Penta Real Estate is relocating its BASE flexible office brand to Chalupkova Offices, its flagship tower in downtown Bratislava. But it’s also agreed to sell the company operating the coworking space at Jurkovičova Tepláreň to Alto Real Estate, which will run the operation under the building’s own name. Neither side disclosed a price.
New podcast episode! With Demaco’s new CFO Zdeněk Raus
Zdeněk Raus swapped the world of large corporate developers for a partner-led firm where the entire business is run by three people. “We are very flexible and quick…We don’t need long preparation in terms of paperwork running through various committees,” he says in the latest episode of ThePrime Pod. That flat structure underpins how Demaco has evolved: from service provider into a developer holding its own long-term portfolio. “We are really a full-scope developer.
iO Partners wins Twin City Tower mandate
Valesco Group has awarded iO Partners Slovakia the exclusive office leasing mandate and landlord representation for Twin City Tower, one of Bratislava’s most prominent office buildings. It provides 34,500 sqm of space across 23 floors, which are served by 456 underground parking spaces. Mário Valentovič is in charge of the mandate for iO Partners.
CPI profits fall 5.9% in Q1
CPI Property Group’s Q1 results were mixed, as consolidated gross operating profit (EBITDA) fell 5.9 percent year-on-year to €171 million. Total revenues declined 9.9 percent against the same period last year to €326 million. Group property occupancy reached 92.5 percent, a slight decline against the end of last year. Like-for-like rental growth was 1.5 percent year-on-year, with all segments recording positive results according to the company.
Zdeněk Raus named equity partner at Demaco
With Demaco’s group assets now approaching CZK 2 billion, the Czech industrial developer has elevated CFO Zdeněk Raus into its ownership structure. The move formalizes Raus’s long-standing role in managing the group’s finances and internal operations in tandem with founding partner Tomáš Budař and partner Jaroslav Kaizr. “The growth of the company naturally brings the need to strengthen the structure and responsibilities within the group.
New podcast! Pavel Novak (Savills) on the worsening office squeeze
Prague’s office market is stuck in a squeeze. Rents are hitting €35 per square meter, fit-out costs now equal five to seven years of rent, and just 26,000 sqm of new space is coming online in 2026. That used to be a single quarter’s delivery before COVID. Tenants who don’t reserve space through pre-leases are less and less likely to find the type (and size) of space they really want.
Bubble tea empire pops
The story around the collapse of a bubble tea empire in the Czech Republic is raising a lot of questions. Not just for retail landlords, but for private investors looking for alternatives to stocks, bonds and real estate. At the heart of the matter is the Twistcafe Group which set up nearly a dozen successful brands, including Bubblify (bubble tea), Trdlokafe, Kofi Kofi, Kytky od Pepy and Víno & Destiláty. Two of those brands — Bubblify and Trdlokafe — are now facing insolvency proceedings.
Five fund targeting Czech senior care real estate’s critical lack of supply
At least five dedicated fund vehicles are now actively acquiring or developing senior care real estate in the Czech Republic. It’s turning what was a niche institutional play three years ago into a fast-forming asset classes. The shift is confirmed by Savills’ 2026 European OpRE Investor Sentiment Survey: 42% of respondents now target care homes, up from a three-year average of 25%.
Time to rethink transport
Data scientist Hannah Ritchie. Moving around Shepparton lately, mostly on foot, it’s obvious that the present fuel crisis has not slowed the use of vehicles. Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content I had expected to see our city’s streets deserted (that’s somewhat extreme, I admit) except for pedestrians and cyclists, but that has not happened. Our roads are just as busy as ever.
Charnwood’s Malešice Business Park targets July opening
The Charnwood Company acquired the Malešice Business Park site from Manufaktura in a deal from early 2025 that took just weeks to close. While the location—situated between Depo Hostivař and Logicor’s Průmyslová park—was a major draw, the primary attraction was the existing building permit for the 5,000 sqm building on Tiskařská street. Thanks to this, the first phase is scheduled for delivery this July. And it’s already 90% pre-leased.
Penta launches new office project on Hybernska
Penta Real Estate has received the building permit for Hybe, the conversion of a former Czech Post building on Hybernská 15 into a 6,300 sqm office and retail asset. The developer estimates total investment at CZK 1.1 billion. With demolition of the dated rear wing due to begin in April, new-build construction should get underway over the summer. Completion is targeted for the third quarter of 2028.
Petr Koljadenko joins Goldbeck
Petr Koljadenko has joined Goldbeck as Strategic Business Lead for the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. He comes from Takenaka Europe, where he spent two decades in business development, most recently leading the company’s data center unit. Koljadenko began his career at CzechInvest, working on inbound automotive investment linked to the TPCA plant in Kolín. His remit at Goldbeck covers rental residential, nearshoring-driven industrial demand, and parking solutions for retail assets.
Professor’s lifelong climate mission
Ian Lowe is a name known to probably only handful of people in the Goulburn Valley. Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content The 83-year-old Queenslander is an emeritus professor from the state’s Griffith University who lives the quiet beachside town of Marcoola on the Sunshine Coast. The professor, who argues that scientists never retire, has long championed the need for Australians to respond positively and with enthusiasm to the dilemmas arising from climate change.
What does America’s office crisis mean for CEE?
The Wall Street Journal this month catalogued a wave of US office buildings selling at 90% or more below peak value. This includes a Chicago tower going for $4 million (down from $68 million) and Denver’s Energy Center for $5.3 million (down from $176 million). MSCI counted 204 distressed office sales last year, up from 133 in 2024, totalling $5.2 billion. The numbers are real, but the mechanism matters more than the headline.
AI boom raises questions
Artificial Intelligence, or AI as it is known colloquially, will alter life in the Goulburn Valley. Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content What our lives will be like after this seismic change — some say AI will impact our lives even more than the first and second industrial revolutions — is really down to us, it’s a choice.
Savills Acquires Eastdil Secured for $1.1 bn
Savills is paying USD 1.1 billion for Eastdil Secured — the largest acquisition in the firm’s history by some distance. It will pay for the deal using debt as well as the issuance of new shares. Company officials cite MSCI data in claiming that the combined group becomes the world’s #2 advisory firm for prime commercial real estate transactions above $100 million.
Four residential permits in one week: Horizon Holding, CPI, Geosan, Central Group
The bureaucratic gears in Prague turn slowly, but at least they’re moving. Between March 16 and 19, four significant residential permits cleared for Horizon Holding, CPI, Geosan, and Central Group. Still, even as the approvals stack up, the actual “groundbreaking” remains a moving target for some of them. In Čimice (Prague 8), Horizon has secured a road infrastructure permit for the third phase of its Nad Čimickým Údolím project.
Babiš blames LPP for arson attack at its Pardubice factory
After Friday’s arson at drone manufacturer LPP’s Pardubice production hall, Prime Minister Babiš told Czech defense companies to secure their own premises better. LPP, he said, hadn’t done enough. LPP’s own account complicates the blame. The hall was fully electronically secured, spokeswoman Martina Tauberová told HN, and all recordings were handed to investigators. It was also empty — taken offline for a planned renovation.
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