OFFPLAN NEWS

(28.06.2007 )
Czech real estate Renovation in Czech Republic to keep Prague’s waterfront afloat

Former industrial and dilapidated districts Karlín and Holešovice in Prague continue to attract land investment in Czech Republic and transform their look. Real Estate Karlín Group (REKG), active mainly in Prague 8, has launched construction work on the Corso IIA building in Karlín.

The new administrative building is counting on the success of Corso Karlín, which was completed in the same district on Křižíkova street in 2001. Both buildings were designed by Ricardo Bofill and his architectural studio Taller de Arquitectura. The famed Catalan architect will be also responsible for designing the future Corso IIB and C buildings. Corso IIA, with a construction investment estimated at Kč 500 million (€17.6 million), is expected to be completed in August or September 2008, said Milorad Miškovič, REKG’s sales and marketing director. In addition, the developer owns another 500,000 square meters of land in Prague on which it plans to develop residential and office projects, he added.

“A city district like Karlín is a location that casts unique inspiration upon every artist,” Bofill said in a news release. “The industrial character of the place simply appeals on capturing its atmosphere, its cadence and its image,” he said. Bofill’s architectural studio was also responsible for the building designs for Paris-based headquarters of Christian Dior and Barcelona International Airport in Spain.

Corso IIA will provide 13,000 sqm of lease space including a variable area for an open space arrangement. The building will also house a restaurant and a three-story underground supervised parking lot with 140 parking places. The building’s architecture is a glass facade consisting of window areas connected with special peripheral panels that are coated with Venetian stucco and an atrium space that’s surrounded by glass and greenery, according to REKG. The company hopes that Corso IIA‘s close proximity to the city center will be attractive to the building’s future tenants. Real estate agents Knight Frank and Jones Lang LaSalle will manage leasing the building. Lease costs are estimated to be at Kč 400 per sqm per month.

REKG anticipates receiving a building permit within a month for its residential Karlín project Cornlofts Šaldova, which will be converted from a former industrial building. Its other residential projects include River Gardens on Rohanský island on the Vltava waterfront.

Also in Prague 8, ČSAD Praha Holding, operator and owner of the Florenc bus station, plans to launch the renovation of the main bus station, according to Czech media. The announcement came about a month after Hlavní nádraží – the capital’s main railway station in Prague – began its renovation.

Meanwhile across the Vltava river, River Town Prague (formerly Pražská tržnice in Holešovice) will also undergo a major renovation. However, because of the market’s historical buildings, the investor is still waiting to receive all the required approvals, said Mikoláš Černý, PR representative of the market’s operator Delta Center.

The current state of the market doesn’t match requirements of the 21st century, and the plan is to turn River Town Prague into a modern shopping and entertainment center, said Joseph Stern, executive director of Delta Center.

Within the coming months, the company hopes to begin the first part of River Town Prague’s renovation. Remodeling of the Asian market represents the first stage of the transformation of River Town Prague into a center that will include shopping, art and cultural venues. River Town Prague will offer restaurants, bars, cafes and a large discotheque.

The new Asian market will comprise of outdoor mobile stands in addition to pagodas. The outdoor Vietnamese-operated stands will reflect a unique Oriental atmosphere, Černý said. The vegetable and fruit market will also continue operation, Černý said.

The company has so far managed to make only “cosmetic“adjustments to the market, such as on the facades of the buildings, Černý said. He was unable to specify when renovation of the entire market will continue.

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