The former presidential candidate Karel Schwarzenberg is building an apartment building on Ostrovni Street in central Prague. The politician, a founder of the TOP 09 party, says his plans to build on the plot he inherited were scrapped 10 years ago by the financial crisis. “We waited for the real estate market to pick up again,” Schwarzenberg told the daily Blesk. “But I won’t be building in Prague again, I don’t have any more land.” He says the total investment costs for the project, which will offer 8 apartments and 20 underground parking places, will run to around CZK 100m. The project will be completed in 2020. The Schwarzenberg family owns land property across the country, as well as in Austria, Germany and Switzerland. Much of its Czech holdings were seized by the Communist party, forcing the family to sue for its return through restitution.
