Penta Real Estate and Kaprain will jointly build a new district on the land of the former Howden ČKD factory in the immediate vicinity of Prague’s O2 arena. The 50,000 sqm site is expected to have 500 apartments, of which Penta will have a 40 percent stake. Penta Real Estate announced this in a press release available to ČTK. According to its spokesman Martin Lánský, the investment in the district will exceed CZK 100 million.
“Construction on the land of today’s Howden will play a crucial role in the development of Vysočany and Libeň. Together with the Penta team, we will use all the experience we have gathered in our previous two joint projects, as well as all our own projects, and build a new modern centre of the whole Prague 9. We will build the entire district in accordance with the concept of the zoning plan change prepared by the Prague 9 municipality,” said František Dombek, chairman of the board of directors of Harfa District and head of information technology at Kaprain Group.
There is an urban planning study for the whole area, which was prepared for Prague 9 by architect Jiří Řezák from Qarta Architektura studio. The centrepiece of the area is to be Emil Kolben Square, open towards the O2 Arena. The area covered by the deal was historically owned by ČKD, for almost 150 years it was a manufacturing site for compressors and engines, most recently under the name Howden ČKD Compressors. This production is now part of the global compressor manufacturer Howden. It continues to operate in the Czech Republic, but from a new production facility in Nehvizdy near Prague.
According to the press release, the two companies are continuing their cooperation at Dejvice’s Vítězné náměstí. Both apartments and commercial premises are to be built there. The land in this area is mainly owned by Fourth Quadrant, which brings together the real estate companies Penta Real Estate, Sekyra Group and Kaprain. Other owners of the land are the City of Prague and the Prague Transport Company. One of the owners was also the University of Chemical Technology, but it has sold the land to developers and will use the money to build a new university building.
“We have been successfully cooperating with the Kaprain Group for several years in the construction around Vítězný náměstí. Vysočany also has great potential, a modern and perfectly accessible district will be created here in the wider city centre. We are happy to be involved in it, we will have a 40% stake in the joint venture,” said David Musil, Commercial Director for Residential and Hospitality at Penta Real Estate.
Penta Real Estate also plans to build the Mocca residential project in Prague’s Vysočany district. It is also continuing to build a new neighbourhood around its newly opened Masaryčka office building. At the end of October, Penta bought ČSAD Praha Holding, which owns the Florenc bus station and adjacent land. In mid-November, it bought the long-unused land in Florenc, adjacent to the Prague main road, from ČD.
Source: Hospodářské noviny and CTK
