ORCO Property Group announced it hired German-based construction company Heberger CZ to build the new broadcast headquarters for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) in Prague 10. Construction of the five-story, 23,545-square-meter (253,436-square-foot) building is scheduled to be completed by 2008. Heberger Group works worldwide, with focal points in Germany, Europe and the Near East.

Plaza Centers Czech Republic has acquired a building directly adjacent to the large 10,500-square-meter plot of land being offered for sale under tender by the City Council of Hradec Králové, known as Koruna. The area, approximately 100 kilometers (62 miles) from Prague, will be set aside for the development of prime retail and entertainment facilities to be available to both the surrounding community and the greater Hradec Králové population.

Prague, Brno and Ostrava once again had their own stands this year at the MIPIM, an annual gathering of real estate professionals from around Europe. Building on the success of last year’s debut, the Slovak city of Bratislava also returned to MIPIM this month in Cannes, France. In addition to the Czech/Slovak exhibition area, there were adjoining stands by the Slovak HB Reavis development company and the Czech Real Spektrum. Both of them, together with CzechInvest, are regular exhibitors.

Cushman & Wakefield Hotels started operations in the Czech Republic this month. The hotel team’s major focus will be on expanding and developing the company’s agency and advisory work in the hotel sector, covering both the Czech and Slovak markets. In Prague, C&W Hotels has recruited Stewart Coggans, who will join the team as a director, and Frederic Le Fichoux, who will join as a senior analyst.

Ballymore Properties announced there has been an increasing demand for new homes at its Statenický Mlýn development in the village of Statenice, northwest of Prague. The tree-lined village square that the properties will surround contains a clock tower and a lake. The development is scheduled to be completed by the end of this year. Prices for one-bedroom apartments start at 2.3 million Kč ($107,226).

MaMaison Hotels & Apartments announced that Riverside Hotel was listed by Tripadvisor.com in its prestigious “Travelers’ Choice 2006.” The survey rates the world’s best hotels based on guest evaluation. On Tripadvisor’s list of “preferred choice” hotels, Riverside Hotel came first in the Czech Republic. The hotel, a five-star venue along the Vltava River’s left bank, has celebrated a strong opening since its reconstruction in November 2002.

Hochtief Development’s Rondo 1 took home the Building of the Year 2006 award at the Central & Eastern European Real Estate Quality Awards held at the InterContinental Warsaw Hotel last month. Ghelamco was named the region’s top developer, and Immoeast was the top investor in 2006. Mike de Jong Douglas of Prologis Central & Eastern Europe was the event’s other big winner, scooping up both the Industry Professional of the Year 2006 award and the Industrial & Logistics Development of the Year 2006 award for Prologis Park Chorzow.

DTZ’s European Quarterly report on cross-border investment activity in Europe shows that the fourth quarter of 2006 was the culmination of a record year, with transactions exceeding 47 million euros ($61.6 million/1.3 billion Kč) in that period. The volume of transactions in 2006 amounted to more than 180 billion euros, an increase of 33 billion euros from 2005, according to the report.

ČSAD Hodonín, a transporter of electronic goods, is the first tenant to reach an agreement to lease space at CTPark Brno–Airport, Colliers International reports. The property, located next to the D1 highway, is being developed by CTP Invest and is slated to be completed this September. ČSAD Hodonín will occupy 20,000 square feet of warehouse space.

VF Corporation, a U.S. apparel-manufacturing company, recently expanded its Czech operations by an additional 24,000 square meters. The Czech expansion for VF Corporation is a result of significant growth in CEE. The company manufactures, sells and distributes casual wear and American jeans, including well-known brands Wrangler, The North Face and Nautica. VF Corporation has occupied 24,000 square meters at Northpoint D8 Distribution Park since 2003.

Prague-based Discovery Group and UK-based Grainger Trust plc recently announced joint venture status on a number of current and planned projects in CEE. The joint-venture has acquired 11.3 hectares (28 acres) of the Žižkov Cargo Station and is planning a new city quarter providing a center to Žižkov. The project is planned to be extensive mixed use, and feature shopping, leisure, offices, hotels and more than 5,000 apartments. The total investment planned is 300 million euros.

Plaza Centers N.V., a global property developer, whose subsidiary company Plaza Centers Czech Republic is well-known on the market for its unique entertainment/retail concept, announced it has acquired two joint-venture projects in India. Plaza said it has acquired a 50 percent stake in the Indian limited-liability company JV1. Plaza also acquired a 100 percent shareholding of a subsidiary company that holds a 50 percent interest in another Indian private limited liability company, JV2.

CB Richard Ellis Prague announced it has appointed Filip Hauser as an office agent and Eva Křiváčková and Marcel Kolesár as graduate surveyors in the valuation advisory department. Hauser previously worked for an international real estate practice as a negotiator for a year. Before joining CB Richard Ellis, Křiváčková worked as a credit analyst at ExxonMobile and PricewaterhouseCoopers as an auditor assistant. Kolesár has been working part time for CB Richard Ellis for the past two years in the research department.