The Czech Republic now has 60 shopping malls and retail parks with a total area of 1.4 million square meters (m2) and in three years the area will grow by a further 600,000 m2, daily Hospodarske noviny (HN) wrote Wednesday referring to a survey of the global property agent Jones Lang LaSalle.

Some of the existing shopping centers will be expanded and 15 new shopping centers will be built, according to the survey.

Galerie Fenix shopping gallery that will be launched in the Prague district of Vysocany in mid-March is one of the two big projects that will enlarge the Czech shopping area this year. Fenix will offer 80 shops.

Prague now has 28 shopping centers with an area of 700,000 m2 after the launch of Palladium at Namesti Republiky square at the end of last year or 583 m2 per 1,000 inhabitants. The figure is lower compared with Western European capital cities whose shopping area is 800 to 900 m2 per 1,000 residents.

Besides Fenix with an area of 12,000 m2, Arkady Pankrac shopping mall next to Pankrac City will be opened in Prague this year, with an area of 40,000 m2.

Rents amount up to EUR150 or nearly Kc4,000 per m2 and month, the paper writes.

The South Moravian city of Brno has 11 shopping centers with a total area of 330,000 m2 or 899 m2 per 1,000 inhabitants. The best centers are Olympia and Galerie Vankovka, and the developer AIG Lincoln wants to complete a Campus project in Brno this year, with 20,000 m2 in area.

Rents reach EUR40 per m2 and month at most, the paper writes. Plans for another 100,000 m2 of shopping space have been put off as the market in Brno is saturated at the moment.

Ostrava in northern Moravia has 7 shopping centers, 120,000 m2 in area, and in the next three years a further 7 centers are to be built there with an area of 200,000 m2. The highest rents in Ostrava are worth EUR35 per m2 and month.

Plzen in the west of Bohemia has five shopping malls, their area at 150,000 m2 including Plzen Plaza that was opened last year, and rents at EUR40 per m2 and month at most. Two retail parks are under construction, HN said.

Liberec in northern Bohemia has 5 retail parks, with an area of 70,000 m2 and the construction of a further 150,000 m2 is under preparation, the paper said.