Mint Investments, a Prague-based real estate asset manager, says tenants in its buildings aren’t currently facing major problems due to the current health concerns. Partner Sebastien Dejanovski says his company ran a hygiene campaign directed at the employees of tenants and made liquid antibacterial gels available in their buildings’ common areas. Within his own company, there have only been minor issues to solve. One employee at Mint Investments was asked to remain home for two weeks after returning from skiing in Italy, while two more cancelled their plans to go skiing there. It’s a model being adopted across the Czech Republic and Europe at the moment, as digital communications are allowing organizations to adapt flexibly to the current hassles. “Companies are asking their employees who don’t have to come to the office to stay at home, but that depends on their position within the company,” says Dejanovski. “Many of my peers in other companies have done the same thing.”
Dejanovski says he’s spoken with numerous investors who remain anxious to deploy substantial levels of capital on real estate assets in the Czech Republic. And there’s still an appetite for office space, he says, as Mint Investments has several larger lease deals underway. In one case, the top European managers of a potential future tenant were unable to make the trip to Prague to see the location because their companies opted to halt most travel temporarily. “Luckily this was the only larger one for us. In other cases, the top managers managed to see the space already.” A similar dynamic applies to ongoing investment transactions, which are often able to move forward if the top decision makers have been to see the buildings and meet the sellers. “This is a business where you have to look people in the eyes,” he says. “And these people of course have to see the asset.” He said in one planned sale, Mint is holding off for now before launching the transaction to ensure it’s considered by a full range of potential buyers.
