The Prague Post
October 10th, 2008
Endowment Fund     Business Listings ONLINE      Reservations      Classifieds    Subscriptions
Prague Center Hotel
Prague Real Estate
Prague Real Estate

Home » Archives » Real Estate

Lexxus enjoying 15 years of success

Prague-based developer began expanding to other Central and Eastern European countries

By Kimberly Ashton
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
December 19th, 2007 issue

COURTESY PHOTO
A tall accomplishment: Lexxus' well-known Trinity Garden development built in 2002, sits on Holečkova Street in Prague 5.
enlarge
COURTESY PHOTO
Trinity Garden is just one example of how Lexxus has come a trendsetter in Prague, company officials say.
enlarge

Lexxus a.s.
Panská 6
Prague 1
Tel.: 224 812 611
E-mail: info@lexxus.cz
Web: www.lexxus.cz

Inside Lexxus’ Panská Street headquarters, guests find themselves surrounded by literal totems of the company’s success. Each pillar describes a different Lexxus project and is accompanied by a visual presentation on a television screen and a model reproduction of the development. But, being one of Prague’s largest real estate companies, these displays are only a sample of the 40-plus projects Lexxus has in the works today.
Started 15 years ago as a company focused on the expat market, Lexxus has expanded into a company that now boasts up to 60 employees in the Czech Republic and another 15 to 20 in their Slovakia branch, which opened two years ago. Lexxus works with both individuals looking for their own places and with developers. It deals with about 1,000 new clients a month, according to sales manager Peter Višňovský.
Luxury niche
Although the company found its niche in catering to foreigners here in Prague, today its service has expanded to the general market. While maintaining a luxury focus, Lexxus still caters to the middle and lower segments of Prague’s residential real estate market, says marketing manager Dagmar Zárubová. She defines this segment as units that cost 50,000 to 65,000 Kč per square meter and usually includes clients between 25 to 30 years old who are buying their first home.
The city’s real estate market is so hot right now, and Lexxus has enjoyed such success this year, that for a while the company fretted that it would run out of units to sell, Višňovský says. But, he adds, Lexxus often has exclusive selling rights to properties, which gives it the luxury of not pushing clients to buy with threats that the unit could be gone the next day. Generally, clients are given eight to 10 days to decide on a purchase.
“We can afford to give a promise to a client,” Zárubová says.
Some of Lexxus’ well-known projects include Trinity Garden on Holečkova Street, built in 2002, and Podvinný Mlýn in Vysočany, Prague 9. The Podvinný Mlýn development has been so successful that the price of units has now doubled. Trinity Garden in particular is an example of how Lexxus is a trendsetter in the market, Višňovský says.
Several years ago, when the project was being developed, the area was not a desirable location, and Sazka Arena had not been built yet. Now it’s a hopping neighborhood.
“We notice that as we make a decision, others follow,” Višňovský notes.
With developments all over Prague, Lexxus sells about 1,000 units per year, Zárubová says.
And Prague, or the Czech Republic for that matter, is just the beginning. Slovakia is the first step in an eastward move that Lexxus envisions.
Lexxus sees Slovakia as “the Czech Republic 15 years ago,” Zárubová says.
The Czech market, she explains, is highly developed today, especially when compared with the rising markets in Bulgaria, Romania and possibly Ukraine and Russia.
The Slovak market is so promising that Višňovský says he expects it to catch up to the Czech market in a few years.
With its long experience in Prague, Lexxus is in a good position to be a key player in that market. Lexxus, Višňovský says, is “using the tools they found out here in Prague.” And as new members of the European Union, Bulgaria and Romania aren’t far behind.
But one of the most potentially exciting areas is the Ukraine, where “the scale is much bigger” in terms of population and the size of developments, Višňovský says.
New Initiatives
Aside from its international endeavors, Lexxus has sponsored a number of exciting events in Prague recently. Last month, as part of its 15th anniversary celebration, it held a contest in which the client who came closest to guessing the company’s sales over a period of two months received a 500,000 Kč credit toward their new home. The winner was feted at a Nov. 22 celebration.
Another success has been the free seminars Lexxus has begun offering for first-time buyers.
So far two seminars have been held, and the response has been overwhelming, with 130 people attending the event last time, Zárubová says.
The first part of the seminar is conducted by Lexxus, with agents talking about the market and how to buy a home. The second part is with Lexxus’ partner, mortgage broker Hyposervis.
“We can’t get any better partner than that,” Višňovský says of Hyposervis, one of the city’s largest mortgage brokers. They are located in the same building as is Lexxus.
Four more seminars are planned for next year.

Kimberly Ashton can be reached at kashton@praguepost.com


Other articles in Real Estate (19/12/2007):

Browse the Current Issue

If you enjoyed this article, why don't you subscribe to the print version!
We accept secure online transactions provided by PayPal and Moneybookers

Be the first to add a comment!


Full Name: *
City: *
E-mail: **
This comment can be published in the print version of The Prague Post
Enter the text on the right:
 visual captcha
Comment: *
* Required field. In order to be approved for display, comments must have a first and last name and a city.
** E-mails are required and will only be used for internal purposes.

Most visited in Business Listings

Hotel booking
The Prague Post Online contains a selection of articles that have been printed in
The Prague Post, a weekly newspaper published in the Czech Republic.
To subscribe to the print paper, click here.
Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited.