Helping with the housing situation in Prague: Česká spořitelna and Kooperativa enter the rental housing market. Sekyra Group will provide them with apartments in Prague’s Opatov neighbourhood.
Prague, 19 July, 2023
Sekyra Group has agreed on the sale of the Opatov II project in Prague 11 with insurance company Kooperativa and Dostupné bydlení České spořitelny (Affordable Housing by Česká spořitelna). When finished, there will be over 300 rental apartments in the project. This is one of the largest build-to-rent transactions in the history of the Czech Republic.
There is a shortage of apartments in Prague, prices and mortgage interest rates are rising and the conditions to be granted a mortgage are relatively strict. All of this makes buying an apartment in Prague increasingly difficult for an ever-expanding group of people. According to statistics from the International Monetary Fund and the OECD, the Czech Republic has seen one of the steepest rises in housing prices in the EU since 2015, compared to household disposable incomes. This situation is most severe in its capital, Prague.
This makes rental housing a welcome alternative. Kooperativa and Dostupné bydlení České spořitelny have partnered up with Czech property company Sekyra Group to build rental housing in Prague’s Opatov neighbourhood. Each company will receive a 50% share in the Opatov II residential project. The parties have agreed not to disclose the transaction amount.
“I believe the share of rental housing will increase significantly in the current property market due to inflated costs and lower mortgage availability. Partnering up with such strong institutional investors as Česká spořitelna and Kooperativa is an excellent opportunity for us to offer the residential projects that we build to a wider group of the population. Moreover, the expansion of professionally managed rental housing will cultivate the market and bring better stability to both tenants and landlords,” said Leoš Anderle, Sekyra Group CEO.
The housing project in Prague's Opatov neighbourhood, which is already under construction and will offer around 300 rental apartments, is the result of a joint investment between insurance company Kooperativa and Dostupné bydlení České spořitelny. Their Austrian parent companies, Vienna Insurance Group AG and Erste Group Bank AG, have worked together for many years, with extensive experience in affordable housing in Austria.
In fact, the Austrian, in particular the Viennese model of affordable housing has inspired other European countries. Kooperativa and Dostupné bydlení České spořitelny have utilised their parent company's experience in the Opatov project, which offers stable, affordable, high-quality rental housing over the long term.
Dostupné bydlení České spořitelny will provide these affordable apartments in Opatov to public sector employees, such as healthcare professionals or teachers.
With the Opatov II project, Sekyra Group is following up its successful implementation of the administrative centre Opatov Park and residential project Opatov Gardens, the latter acquired by the Prague 11 city district with the intention of providing rental housing. The project is scheduled to be completed by the end of the next year, with tenants moving in during the first quarter of 2025. One of the biggest plus points of the Opatov II project is its location. It is situated near the C metro line and easily accessible from the D1 highway, making it easy to get to the city centre or to the Prague ring road. The surrounding areas offer all necessary civic amenities such as a shopping centre, supermarkets, schools and a spacious park, making the project ideal for both short and long-term housing.
About Sekyra Group
Sekyra Group is a leading Czech real estate group, currently developing projects with a total area of over 1 million m2. It has a long-term vision, focusing on large development areas and building entire urban districts such as Smíchov City, Rohan City, and Žižkov City. It specialises in public spaces, participatory planning, and eco-friendly buildings.
Sekyra Group already has a number of representative Prague buildings in its portfolio. For example, it constructed the National Technical Library (Building of the Year in 2009) and corporate headquarters for Česká spořitelna, Nestlé, T-Mobile, and Skanska. It has also built or renovated over 8,000 apartments and is one of the founding partners of the non-profit Czech Green Building Council. You can find more information about Sekyra Group’s development projects at www.sekyragroup.cz.
