Robert Sekera: the Czech developer who says take a page from Bond

Robert Sekera, founder of the development group RS Group, believes Czechia lacks courage and a willingness to take risks. At the Forbes conference “Lepší Česko” (“A Better Czechia”) in Karlovy Vary, he pointed to James Bond: the fictional agent, he said, has just two qualities, bravery and a readiness to take risks.

Sekera did not mention Karlovy Vary by chance: one of the Bond films, “Casino Royale,” was shot there. “Everyone knows James Bond. And he has two traits: he is brave and ready to take risks. It is extremely important that Czechia starts taking more risks,” the developer said.

From apartment buildings to elder care. Sekera has been building with RS Group for more than a quarter of a century. The company started with residential buildings but over time took an unexpected turn into homes for older people and centers for people with Alzheimer’s disease. It is a topic Czechs, according to Sekera, still approach with caution. “As a society, we still avoid this topic. Nobody wants to be old and watch mom and dad lose consciousness and no longer recognize you,” he said.

His group was not put off. “We felt that people needed it. But we told ourselves: we are just a developer — we know how to build, not how to run these places,” Sekera said.

A partnership with the Austrians and the sale of the business. The solution was an alliance with the Austrian company SeneCura: in 2010 they set up its Czech arm. Over the years, seventeen homes for older people and centers for people with Alzheimer’s were built. In 2024, Czech SeneCura was bought by Penta Hospitals, part of the holding of Marek Dospiva, the 11th richest person in Czechia.

From its Austrian partners, RS Group took on experience in how to conceive such homes and how to optimize space without shortchanging future clients. “When you create a project and want it to have a life afterward — whether it is an apartment building, a hotel or a center for people with Alzheimer’s — you have to breathe life into it. It is important to understand the philosophy and needs of the home,” Sekera stressed. That creative side of the work is what he likes most.

Investing in an aging society. The segment has become attractive to investors: the population is aging and places are scarce. So a few years ago Sekera and Milan Kušta founded the investment fund Property Fund for Living (PFFL), which specializes in exactly this segment of real estate.

The main problem: laws. Sekera names current legislation as the biggest obstacle for the industry, which in his view slows construction. He is not alone: developers have long complained about lengthy permitting procedures. “Development is a long road that can take anywhere from three to a full fifteen years,” he noted. But neither he nor his colleagues have ever abandoned a project halfway.

The secret, he says, is character: “I am a big sportsman, and my qualities are endurance and perseverance, which I carry into business. That helped me get through the Covid years and the war crisis that followed. I believe that beyond every horizon there is always a plain and light.”

By the Around Prague newsroom