MIPIM, Europe´s largest property and investment market, whose 29th edition was held in Palais des Festivals, Cannes, France, ended on Friday 16th March. Prague, Brno and Ostrava were also striving to attract investors´ attention in the competition of dozens of European cities. For the second time in the history of MIPIM, the three largest Czech metropolises have organized a CZECH CITIES joint exhibition. In view of this, prospective investors and other interesting parties got all the relevant information in one place, where they also had an opportunity to enter negotiations with the Mayors of cities. A synergistic picture of the Czech real estate market has been made complete by the presence of co-exhibitors. The general partners were CRESTYL and Sekyra Group, whereas the list of partners contained Accolade, PASSERINVEST GROUP, P3 Logistic Parks and Residomo. Also, AFI Europe Czech Republic, Bogle Architects, CASUA, Kinstellar, PRK Partners, and Unibail-Rodamco have been presented at the exhibition. The strong competition among European capitals at the event can be illustrated by over 1,100 representatives of cities and regions who, coming from London through Berlin and Paris to Moscow, have attended MIPIM. The concrete results of the Czech joint exhibition will show in a rather long time, given the large scale of the projects presented and the corresponding investments. However, it can be already said now that attendance figures at the exhibition stand have been high - the reception, organized there for existing and prospective business partners and investors on Wednesday 14 March, was attended by 150 guests. At the reception, a speech was delivered by Petr Drulák, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Czech Republic to France, in addition to the Mayors of the three largest Czech cities.
MIPIM is one of the most important global European forums in the industry. Even though the official statistics are not available yet, the French organizer estimates more than 25,000 accredited participants from 100 countries, exhibiting in an area of 20,000 m2. As for the Czech Republic, 50 companies have arrived at Cannes.
WORLD INVESTORS SHOWED THEIR APPETITE AT MIPIM
According to research "Investment Market Europe 2018", carried out by financial adviser Catella, the dynamics of investment markets at the beginning of the year were comparable with the last year´s figures and, moreover, investment in commercial real estate continues to grow in almost all European countries. This is also stimulated by a steady growth of the entire European economy, which demonstrated its flexibility over global shocks last year. Although the total volume of investment at the Czech real estate market, according to Cushman & Wakefield consultants, will fall compared to last year, the Czech Republic will remain an attractive investment destination and the total investment in the country will reach €2.5 billion this year. As in other European countries, investment activities are mainly driven by the segment of office, logistics and industrial real estate in the Czech Republic. In addition to domestic and German investors, the Czech Republic is expected to witness increased activities of new players from Asia, who have already gained experience in the Central European region. Speaking of presenting projects to these investors, MIPIM appeared to be a perfect forum: over 5,300 investors and representatives of financial institutions have arrived at Cannes this year. The most important of them were the world's largest sovereign funds from Asia (UAE, Kuwait, Hong Kong, Singapore, Qatar, South Korea, Saudi Arabia).
PRAGUE: PROJECTS OF CITY-WIDE IMPORTANCE AS WELL AS A DATA PLATFORM FOR BETTER PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT OF THE CITY
Prague Mayor Adriana Krnáčová said:
"Investors and other participants in MIPIM felt very positive that the three biggest Czech cities have arranged their large joint exhibition again - in mutual synergy, yet maintaining diversity stemming from their individual projects. Prague presented a joint project between the Capital City and Charles University, which, known as Kampus Hybernská, aims to connect the wider public and cultural projects with university activities in the environment of a modern infrastructure in the historical centre of Prague. Through the general exhibition partners, we could also present another two major projects of city-wide importance: Smíchov City and Savarin. The first of them aims at reclamation of a vast brownfield in Smichov Railway Station, spread over an area of over 20 hectares, and provides a model for development of more than 15 brownfields in the urban area. We are very pleased that, thanks to the initiative of the Institute of Planning and Development of the City of Prague, the project has already successfully undergone a so-called participatory process involving the general public and, as a result, Sekyra Group as a developer can apply for a Planning Decision. Another very important project is Savarin, which, being planned under the leadership of CRESTYL Group, aims to link Wenceslas Square and Příkopy. In view of this, a great architectural masterpiece will be created there to a design by the acclaimed British architect Thomas Heatherwick in collaboration with the Czech architect Jakub Cigler. The future Savarin will form one unit together with the lower part of Wenceslas Square, whose reconstruction is scheduled for completion by the end of this year. We are delighted to see that each of the three projects has met with great interest in Cannes.
In addition, we have focused, in cooperation with the City owned company, Operator ICT, which is in charge of the entire Smart City concept in Prague, on a detailed presentation of the Data Platform project, a tool which, being a cornerstone of the Smart City concept, is extremely important for city planning and management. We have come to MIPIM to gain fresh impetus for further development of Prague´s Data Platform. Last but not least, the event is a source of inspiration for technical upgrades right to the concept of Smart City and public buildings: what caught our attention was, for example, an interesting presentation of a start-up manufacturer of window glass, also functioning as solar panels."
BRNO: INVESTORS FOR PONAVA, INSPIRATION FOR FUTURE SMART DISTRICT OF ŠPITÁLKA
Brno Mayor Petr Vokřál told about the city's presentation at MIPIM:
"One of the central themes was the concept of Smart City and the view on so-called smart cities from different angles at this year´s fair. At MIPIM, we have found inspiration for our project for a future smart district, known as Špilálka, where we intend to test the concept of smart city development in practice: the range of issues includes, among other things, energy saving, transport and parking, public lighting, facility management and data processing. In addition, we focused on the revitalization of the Ponava site, with future development of three major sports centres: a football stadium, a multipurpose hockey arena and an aquapark. Within the project, we also count on more than 20,000 m2 of commercial space; our goal is to bring life to Ponava, regardless of whether or not any sports events are being organized in the above sports venues. The total investment in Ponava is estimated at CZK 4.5 billion - and in view of such a large investment, MIPIM was an excellent opportunity for us to discuss (even if only one segment of the project) with both potential investors and operators. In our opinion, successful implementation of the Ponava project is of great importance as it can accelerate further development of the city and foster a wide range of activities.
Considering extensive projects of major importance that are often shown by European cities at MIPIM, we would love to present our project for relocation of Brno Main Station to the vicinity of the Svratka River next year. This option is preferred by The Council of the City of Brno and the Regional Council, but the Czech government will have the last say. Should the Railway Station be relocated, the existing railway space would be freed up for further development of the city and over 100 hectares of development sites would be created in this location, which is currently experiencing an economic boom. To sum up, this is a project whose presentation to prospective investors at such a major trade fair as MIPIM suggests itself."
OSTRAVA: TENDER FOR INVESTMENT IN HRUŠOV DEVELOPMENT AREA, CONSTRUCTION OPPORTUNITIES IN HISTORICAL CITY CENTRE
Ostrava Mayor Tomáš Macura, said in his commentary on the presentation at the fair:
"At MIPIM, we entered into negotiations with prospective investors and developers over the revitalization of the development area in Ostrava-Hrušov for the purpose of light industries and logistics. They were provided with details - we will be waiting for their offers until 30th April. At this year's event, we also focused on those areas in the historical city centre that are directly adjacent to Masaryk Square, along with those in the newly emerging Karolina district. In total, the areas cover almost 25,000 m2 suitable for a variety of purposes: from housing to shops and offices. As we are planning to invite tenders for investment projects for the development of the above areas in the historical centre (similarly to the tenders that are currently being invited for Hrušov) this summer, the fair was an excellent opportunity for us to get in contact with investors to discuss their ideas about the use of these sites, in terms of the concepts and investment volumes. Last but not least, we also launched a project for the refurbishment and transformation of historical municipal slaughterhouses into a modern art gallery, PLATO, created to the design of Robert Konieczny, an acclaimed architect from Poland. This project should become an example of a future cultural district. We are delighted by an award received from a prestigious journal, fDi's Intelligence, where Ostrava ranked sixth in the category of Top 10 fDi Strategy, FDi European Cities and Regions of the Future 2018/2019. We were presented with the award in Cannes on 13th March."
MIPIM: HOW TO FULFILL THE DEMANDS OF THE CITY OF THE FUTURE?
This edition of MIPIM was also an indicator of global trends. Its central theme, which reflected global development, was "Mapping World Urbanity" this year. According to a United Nations analysis, the world population is estimated to reach 8.5 billion and 9.7 billion by 2030 and 2050 respectively, with 60 % of the population expected to live in cities. This will constitute enormous challenges for metropolises in terms of their capabilities to respond to climate changes, along with designing investment strategies, architecture, construction technology and meeting other requirements. This is why all the property sector players have to examine methods to cope with the expansion of metropolitan areas, along with choosing appropriate strategies. The central topic of the world urbanity was reflected no later than at the MIPIM Opening Conference with a title "New Rules for New Cities": its keynote speaker was Adora Svitak, who, regardless of her age of 20, is a worldwide renowned American writer, lecturer and activist. In her contribution, she summed up the visions and requirements of the current young generation in terms of the cities of the future: the strong sense of community, sustainability and smarter urban spaces. The topic of "Mapping World Urbanity" was addressed, from various viewpoints, at a number of conferences and panel discussions during MIPIM, including the traditional Mayors Think Tank, held on Thursday 15th March. Evergreen themes running through the event were connected with innovation, construction of green buildings and sustainable development. (Sustainable development was addressed at a special summit for the first time at MIPIM.) Moreover, special workshops focused on particular property market segments: discussion centred on residential, retail and office properties, hotels, industrial and logistics parks, along with health-care projects, which, resulting from the ageing of the population, are becoming the focus of attention. By tradition, the RE-INVEST investment summit was also held at MIPIM, with the participation of leading world institutional investors, pension funds´ representatives, sovereign funds and investment funds of insurance companies. Also, the Legal Forum debuted at MIPIM this year, as a new format of discussion about how national legislation, in the framework of the EU, affect the property market.
MIPIM AWARDS: PRIZES FOR THE BEST BUILDINGS IN THE WORLD
The highlight of the event was, as usual, the MIPIM Awards Ceremony, where the best of last year´s buildings were given prestigious accolades. The prizes went to winning projects in 11 categories this year: Office & Business Development, Refurbished Building, Residential Development, Shopping Centre, Hotels & Tourism Resort, Industrial & Logistics Development, Healthcare Development, Innovative Green Building, Urban Regeneration Project, Futura Project, Futura Mega Project (total surface area over 150,000 m2).
30th year of MIPIM is to be held in Cannes from 12 to 15 March 2019.
MIPIM AWARD WINNERS:
Office & Business Development: FELTRINELLI PORTA VOLTA, Milan, Italy
Refurbished Building: ANTWERP PORT HOUSE, Antwerp, Belgium
Residential Development: ÎLOT SACRÉ, Brussels, Belgium
Shopping Centre: FICO EATALY WORLD, Bologna, Italy
Hotels & Tourism: Resort CATHOLIC - SOCIAL INSTITUTE MICHAELSBERG ABBEY, Siegburg, Germany
Industrial & Logistics Development: THE CHAPELLE INTERNATIONAL LOGISTICS CENTRE, Paris, France
Healthcare Development: THE MAERSK TOWER, Copenhagen, Denmark
Green Building: MARINA ONE, Singapore
Urban regeneration project: PORTA NUOVA, Milan, Italy
Futura Project: NATIONAL MUSEUM OF QUATAR, Doha, Quatar
Futura Mega Project (total surface area over 150,000 m2): MUI DINH ECOPARK, Mui Dinh, Vietnam
For more information please contact:
Crest Communications, a.s.
Kamila Čadková
Account Director
Gsm: +420 731 613 609
email: kamila.cadkova@crestcom.cz
www.crestcom.cz
