The XPlace platform operated by the Prague Archbishopric has bought 57 rental apartments in the U Šárky project in Prague 6 from the Finep development company, it was announced yesterday. Last week, XPlace announced that it would buy 54 rental flats from Penta Real Estate in the neighbourhood of the Vidoule nature park and the new urban district of Waltrovka for lower hundreds of millions of crowns. After the restitution, the Catholic Church is looking for ways to secure its own financing.
“We see the 57 apartments for families in the U Šárky project as the beginning of a long-term cooperation that also includes Finep’s support for the social activities that the Archbishopric of Prague is engaged in and with which we at Finep are in harmony,” said Finep CEO Tomáš Pardubický.
The apartments owned by XPlace would be used for commercial purposes. The church previously told ČTK that the profit from the renting of the apartments is intended to be used entirely to support the main activities of the Archbishopric of Prague, i.e. spiritual ministry, support of church education or at least basic maintenance of churches, and also to support parishes. Thus, the XPlace portfolio will not offer social housing, that is provided by charities. However, according to the media representative of XPlace, Pavlína Křivancová, the rent in the U Šárky project should be affordable for families and will be in lower amounts than the platform usually offers apartments for.
In addition to 57 residential units, the five-storey U Šárky project will also offer 60 parking spaces. The first residents could move into the building in early 2026. The architecture meets energy standards to keep operating costs low and minimize environmental impact.
Linda Dolečková, economist at the Archbishopric of Prague, said Finep is an important partner for XPlace to partner with to build more rental apartments. The platform also entered into a mutual partnership agreement with Penta in early February after acquiring 54 apartments.
The archbishopric also operates 103 apartments in Jaselská Street in Dejvice. Former President Miloš Zeman has set up an office in one of them. The apartment was rented by the Friends of Miloš Zeman association, which helped him with his return to politics after 2008 and later with his presidential campaign.
In 2043, the state’s payment of compensation to the Roman Catholic Church for undelivered property in the 2013 comprehensive property settlement will end. It was returned 75 billion crowns worth of property. The Archbishopric of Prague made a profit of CZK 213 million in 2022. XPlace makes up approximately ten percent of its asset portfolio. The service organisation has eight employees.
In 2023, Finep sold 386 rental apartments to institutional buyers such as Česká spořitelna or the residential fund Mint. It also sold 454 apartments to individual owners and cooperatives in Prague and Central Bohemia, in nine development projects. In the last period, Finep sold ten of its houses into rental housing.
Source: CTK
Photo: U Šárky, FINEP
