Accolade Group becomes the 100% owner of the multi-purpose Karlovarská Business Park, located near Prague airport
Accolade Group, which invests in modern industrial property across Europe, has expanded its portfolio with the addition of the Karlovarská Business Park. After purchasing a majority stake from Czech property fund Conseq Realitní, the group has become its sole owner. Part of the site is four buildings with a total area of 19,500 m², used for e-commerce, logistics, offices, and retail. One of the park’s advantages is its attractive location, intersecting Prague’s outskirts and the D6 motorway and close to the city’s airport, resulting in a sustained high occupancy rate. Both sides decided against disclosing the value of the transaction, which was brokered by CBRE – a global leader in the commercial property sector.
“Thanks to its advantageous location with excellent transport links, the Karlovarská Business Park ranks among the best in the region. We are delighted that our asset management team carries out such high quality work, underscored by the long-term low vacancy rate. Acquiring this park fits perfectly into our investment strategy, a key aspect of which is the diversification of the portfolio from a tenant and region point of view,” said Lukáš Répal, Chief Operating Officer at Accolade. Current tenants include bus and coach manufacturer EvoBus, health firm Fresenius Medical Care, and European air-conditioning producer Lindab.
The Karlovarská Business Park site was purchased by Conseq Realitní fund alongside Accolade back in 2017, albeit with a majority share of 90% being held by the former at that time.
Industrial property sector in good health
A shortage of plots for new construction and high demand in recent years have reduced the vacancy rates for industrial properties to a historic low of around 1%. This has led to rent growth of a record 60% in certain locations since 2020, the quickest growth in the whole of Europe. This trend supports investment in industrial properties even during a period of high interest rates and explains investors’ continued interest.
“The high demand for industrial and logistics sites in Prague and the surrounding areas has caused a rapid increase in premium rents, in some cases up to 7.9 EUR per m² for an average-sized unit of 5,000 m². For smaller or bespoke units, rents can reach even higher levels. Although primary rents here are already reaching similar levels to that of Germany (Munich is at 8.5 EUR/m²/month), the benefit of a cheaper workforce still prevails, on average around 1,800 EUR per person per month, two and a half times less than in Germany,” said Vítězslav Doležal, a director in the investment department team at CBRE.
“Purchasing the park at a beneficial time and its subsequent sale only confirm the quality and liquidity of property in the fund’s portfolio. Despite the fact that not many deals are currently being completed in the property sector, we managed to sell the site with an attractive level of appreciation, illustrating our conservative approach to property valuation,” concludes Vladan Kubovec, Portfolio Manager at Conseq Funds investment company.