Prague, October 10, 2024 (PROTEXT) – The 26th edition of Expo Real, a prestigious European real estate and investment fair, ended yesterday in Munich. Nearly 2,000 exhibitors came here this year. Among the Czech ones, the large joint exhibition Czech Cities & Regions, where Prague, Ostrava and the Moravian-Silesian Region together with the CzechInvest agency, the State Investment and Development Company (SIRS) and co-exhibitors from among commercial companies, traditionally attracted attention. The Czech metropolises attracted interest thanks to the projects of renowned architects: in the accompanying programme at the stand, architect Robert Konieczny (KWK Promes) presented the successful revitalisation of the former city slaughterhouse in the centre of Ostrava into the PLATO contemporary art gallery, while architect Shane Dalke (BIG) presented the future shape of the Vltava Philharmonic in Prague. Ostrava, the Moravian-Silesian Region and Prague also presented their projects and visions for the future: these are in line with the global trends that were most talked about at the fair: sustainability, decarbonisation and the efforts of virtually all European metropolises to address the housing crisis.
The Mayor of Ostrava, Jan Dohnal, described why the participation of Czech municipalities in the competition of other European cities and regions at this fair is important and what it brings to them: “After last year’s Expo Real, we managed to find a developer for the expansion of the Science and Technology Park at the University of Science and Technology in Ostrava, and we have moved on to the construction of a skyscraper on Ostrčilova Street and another part of the Ostrava Airport Multimodal Park in Mošnov. With the ambition to present attractive projects for developers, we also came to the fair this year and we held a number of meetings in this sense. In Ostrava, for example, we are laying the foundations for the participation of developers in projects for the creation of large sports facilities with a national and international dimension: a multifunctional hall for ball sports, a winter sports centre and the Bazaly football stadium, the design of which will be based on the results of an international architectural competition. We are also successfully selling space in industrial zones at the fair. World-class architecture is being created in Ostrava, we are not afraid of ambitious large-scale projects – and Expo Real is the ideal place to present them. Proof that the city’s attractiveness is on the rise is the fact that from 2022 it has a positive migration balance for the first time in years – this means that more people are moving to Ostrava than leaving it.”
In order to succeed in European competition, Czech cities and regions see it as very important to pursue their visions towards sustainability, innovation, academic and technological maturity, which is also reflected in the projects presented at Expo Real. As Šárka Šimoňáková, Deputy Governor of the Moravian-Silesian Region, said, this means focusing primarily on projects with high added value that will ensure economic benefits and improve the quality of life in the region. That is why the Moravian-Silesian Region organised an expert debate entitled “Key aspects of successful cooperation between the world of business, research and innovation” as part of the accompanying programme at its stand. The topic was how effective cooperation between academia, commercial companies and public institutions contributes to the Moravian-Silesian Region becoming a region of successful companies. The speakers were Igor Ivan from the Technical University of Ostrava, Vladislav Kolárik from the Fraunhofer Innovation Platform and Adéla Hradilová from the Moravian-Silesian Innovation Centre. “There is a continuing interest in industrial zones in the region, and companies that are already successfully operating in the region are expanding their activities. Thus, the purchasing power and demand for new housing is also growing in towns outside Ostrava, such as Kopřivnice, Nový Jičín or Frýdek-Místek. That is why we want to support the implementation of residential construction of higher quality there. In this sense, we held a number of negotiations with investors and developers at Expo Real. We used data from Deloitte to show them the differences in transaction prices of flats in prefabricated, brick or modern residential construction in our region. The average price per square metre is significantly influenced by the fact that most of the housing stock is in original prefabricated construction, which pushes this price down. We have demonstrated to investors in specific projects that it is possible to achieve higher sales prices in the modern housing segment in the region than the average comparable to Ostrava. In addition, we presented the regional vision for the Karviná region. There is still a need to strengthen the manufacturing segment and attract a major strategic investor, ideally on brownfield sites. With the arrival of new job opportunities, the pressure on quality housing and services will also increase and it will be possible to develop a residential market with modern housing. We are also pleased to receive praise from investors and developers that the Moravian-Silesian Region, in cooperation with our regional development agency MSID, provides them with support and quality information, is a partner in their projects in the region and thus connects the public and private spheres,” adds Šárka Šimoňáková.
The presentation of quality architecture by renowned creators was part of a rich accompanying programme at the stand. The future project of the Vltava Philharmonic in Prague was presented by architect Shane Dalke from the BIG studio, which won an international architectural competition and completed a detailed architectural study this year. An already completed successful project – the conversion of the former city slaughterhouse in Ostrava into the city’s contemporary art gallery PLATO – was presented by its author, architect Robert Konieczny from KWK Promes studio. This project is an example of good practice in breathing new life into former urban brownfields and bringing a residential function to them at the same time. According to Jan Dohnal, development in the new neighbourhood around the gallery is now being driven by investment in residential projects and related infrastructure – financed not only by the city but also by private sector investors. Some of the available land has been bought by the developer Linkcity Czech Republic, which plans to build an apartment building with shops and services, Rezidence Stodolní. The city is offering part of the land in the locality for sale to private investors, who have the opportunity to participate in the ongoing urban development of Ostrava. This was also discussed in the accompanying programme on the page. Prague is also following a similar path of using many of the city’s brownfield sites not only for residential development in cooperation with investors. At Expo Real, the latter presented, among other things, current urban rental housing projects, including the future project in Dolní Počernice in Prague 14, the first phase of which includes 270 urban rental apartments. The city is thus putting itself in the role of a developer, having established the Prague Development Company (PDS) for this purpose.
A key theme of this year’s Expo Real was the transformation towards decarbonisation: a number of discussions at the DECARB Arena Forum were dedicated to concrete examples of how cities and regions are moving towards climate neutrality through sustainable solutions – for example, through the construction of smart buildings or sophisticated energy management. The focus was also on the housing crisis, which is being addressed by virtually all European capitals. Last but not least, discussions focused on investments, strategies and risk management in today’s volatile world.
The rich supporting programme of the fair was divided into 9 thematic discussion forums. New among them was the Transform & Beyond forum. This focused on the new challenges facing the real estate and investment market: e.g. digitalisation, robotics or the use of artificial intelligence. Individual segments of the real estate market also had their own special conferences and discussion panels: in addition to housing, retail (Grand Plaza Stage), logistics and industrial real estate, offices and hotels (all within the Planning & Partnerships Forum).
Nearly 2,000 exhibitors had their stands at Expo Real this year. The presentation area occupied 7 exhibition halls with a total area of 75,000 m2. Although the final statistics of the fair are not yet available, the estimate of the German organizer Messe München is around 40,000 participants representing 70 countries.
The next Expo Real, the 27th edition, will take place in Munich from 6 to 8 October 2025.
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CTK Connect is publishing an image supplement to the report, available at http://www.protext.cz.
