The area of former factories and industrial halls in Prague 9 will be transformed into a modern urban district. Skanska is now planning to invest more than CZK 1 billion (€41 million) in the Alfred apartment building there. The building, which is part of the second phase of the construction of the district of industrialist Emil Kolben, is expected to be completed in 2025, reports E15.cz.
Skanska is continuing with the second stage of the construction of the residential district of Emil Kolben in Prague 9. The building, which is named after the younger brother of the famous industrialist Emil Kolben, will offer 179 apartments, mostly small apartments.
Altogetger, more than 1,000 of them will be built in five phases throughout the new neighbourhood. So far, Skanska has completed five buildings also named after members of the Kolben family, on whose legacy the project is based.
Thanks to the efficient use of solar energy or rainwater management, Alfred House is also expected to be almost a quarter more efficient than a comparable reference building. "We have managed to achieve a very low total energy consumption of 51 kilowatt hours/per sqm for the Alfred apartment building. The biggest impact is the thoroughly insulated building envelope, and the photovoltaic panels are also beneficial. If an amendment to the energy law comes into force in January, we will examine their wider involvement," said Martin Horálek of Skanska Residential.
District transformation
Skanska's Emil Kolben district project is part of a major transformation of the ninth district. The former ČKD factory, which will be converted into lofts at a cost of about CZK 2 billion (€82.33 million), will also see a transformation after years of disrepair. A multifunctional district AFI City, to be built by the Israeli developer AFI Europe, will be created on a fifteen-hectare site. Two large residential projects, Suomi and Lappi, will be built by Finnish developer YIT. The Czech Central Group will build a total of 1,500 flats in Tesla Hloubětín, and the Czech Finep, which is continuing the construction of three projects, is not lagging behind. The largest one, Nová Harfa, will offer two thousand flats. CPI Property Group will also contribute a thousand housing units in Vysočany with its Kolbenova Park project. Also in the pipeline is the transformation of Pragovka by the studio of architect Pavel Hnilicka.
The City Hall itself also has big plans for construction, planning to create a new centre of Vysočany in the vicinity of the O2 arena. Its centre is to become Emil Kolben Square. The acquisition of land from Howden ČKD Compressors, worth hundreds of millions of crowns, is key to the realisation of these plans. However, large real estate groups like Penta and Kaprain are fighting for the land.
