Six new shopping centers totalling 80,000 sqm will open in the Czech Republic this year with an additional 70,000 sqm to be added in 2015. The Czech Republic is still slightly below the European average in terms of gross leasable area per capita. But in relation to purchasing power, figures show that the market is close to saturation.
“New centres will still be built – the market needs organic shopping space renewal. In addition to standard shopping centers, retail space will appear in traffic junctions, and smaller local projects will rise,” says Jan Kotrbáček, head of the retail agency team at Cushman & Wakefield Czech Republic and Slovakia. He adds that owners of existing centers will have to pour money into expansions and facelifts to keep their project competitive. Centrum Pivovar in Děčín, Galerie Teplice and Obchodní Centrum Lužiny opened this year, as did a ground floor shopping gallery in the new Florentinum office building in Prague. The shopping centers Frýda in Frýdek Místek and Quadrio in Prague are scheduled to open in the second half of the year. Openings planned for next year include Central Kladno and an expansion of OC Kralovo Pole in Brno.
