Retail mall development resumes in Czech Republic
Seven new or reconstructed shopping malls are set to open in the Czech Republic this year, which is twice as many as in the past two years, according to a report by real estate consultants Cushman & Wakefield.
In the 1990s and following decade, the Czech Republic enjoyed a major boom in new shopping centre development throughout the country. At the moment, there are some 120 shopping centres, which is probably the highest number of shopping malls per head among all Central and Eastern European countries.
The boom of shopping malls development came to an end in 2011, which was the first year in two decades which did not see the opening of a single new large retail centre. Only one shopping mall and six retail park opened in the country in 2016. This year, seven new or reconstructed malls are set to open, offering an area of 78,000 square metres.
Among the biggest projects is the enlargement of Prague’s Centrum Chodov to 35,000 square metres. Other shopping malls are scheduled to open in smaller towns, including Jablonec nad Nisou, České Budějovice, Třinec or Cheb.
Despite the slow-down in shopping malls development, Jan Kotrbáček, Head of Retail Services in Central Europe at Cushman & Wakefield, believes the market in the Czech capital is still not fully saturated.
“We still see potential for further growth of shopping malls in the centre of Prague, including Savarin in Prague 1, Dejvice Centre in Prague 6 or Palác Stromovka at Prague 7,” he told the Czech News Agency.
At the moment, the area of the Czech Republic’s large-scale shopping centres covers around 2.5 million square metres in total. The country’s 180 retail parks take up an area of around 800,000 square metres.
