Reico ČS Property Fund has sold the smallest retail building in its portfolio, the Čtyři Dvory shopping center in České Budějovice. The buyer is Conseq Real Estate Fund, one of the original local vehicles which was set up in 2008. It’s one of the Czech funds that’s been snapping up commercial real estate assets not just in the Czech Republic, but in Poland as well. Cushman & Wakefield was involved with the sale, which went through for roughly €13.7 million.
As Čtyři Dvory was the first real estate asset Reico bought back in 2006, the transaction underlines just how much the fund has grown in the intervening years. “We decided to sell due to the size of this investment,” said Dušan Sýkora, Reico’s Chairman of the Board. “It no longer fits within the scale of our fund. We want to focus on significantly larger properties. The annual rent from the property being sold accounts for less than one percent of the fund’s income.” The deal leaves Reico ČS Property Fund with 19 properties in its portfolio, with a current market value of CZK 37.12 billion. A press release from yesterday claimed the company’s shareholders have seen a 5.1 percent rise in value over the past 12 months.
But the fund made other news this week with the acquisition of Nový Opatov G1, a residential rental housing project in Prague 11. The buy doesn’t just mark the funds debut on the residential sector – it’s the first time it’s taken such an aggressive approach in the hunt for yield by taking on a development. “We purchased a project with a building permit from Finep and will have a turnkey building with 170 apartments constructed in Prague 11 near the Opatov metro station,” said Sykora.
