4/30/2008

J&T REAL ESTATE wants to invest 90 billion

The American and British real estate markets are in crisis, the real estate business has slowed down in Germany and France as well, but the Czech Republic remains unaffected.

After Orco Property Development and Finep, who presented their intended investments worth more than CZK 100 billion last year, one of the youngest developers - J&T Real Estate - announced its plans yesterday.

“I estimate the value of projects we have started or are going to start in Prague, Brno, Hradec Králové, Vrchlabí and Ostrava within five years at CZK 30 billion. However, the development of construction work prices may affect the costs significantly,” said Dušan Palcr, partner of J&T Real Estate.

The anticipated value of all projects that the Group wants to implement not only in the Czech Republic but also in Slovakia, Russia and other locations is CZK 90 billion. Its plans also include two hotels, residences and administrative buildings that J&T wants to build in the Caribbean.

“The Czech economy is healthy and our projects are so profitable that their value will not drop. We are not taking any unpredicted risk, I am not afraid of any real estate crisis,” said Palcr.
One of J&T’s most interesting projects is the conversion of the former headquarters of Investiční a Poštovní Banka, then ČSOB, into a five-star hotel belonging to the Le Royal Meridien chain. The investment will be EUR 61 million, i.e. approximately CZK 1.5 billion.

The conversion will be planned by an international team consisting of architects from the Netherlands, France, and Czech Republic. “The building permit proceedings are currently underway, we have finished the tender documentation and are looking for the general contractor,” said Ondřej Sobek, Director of J&T development section. The conversion work will start this year and should be finished in 2010 according to the company’s plans. There will be 1752 luxurious rooms in the building, including a presidential suite.

The company plans on building two high-rise buildings in Prague’s Holešovice as part of its Tower City project, each having 42 storeys. There will be mostly comfortable apartments and offices there. Other Prague projects of J&T include its new headquarters in Sokolovská Street next to the Oasis Florenc building, a shopping and social centre, Rustovka, in Prague 8, and the company is also competing for the development of Rohanský Island. In Brno, J&T wants to spend CZK 8 to 11 billion to convert the former Zbrojovka factory site to a residential, commercial and administrative complex.

Hospodářské noviny | 30/4/2008 | section: Real Estate | page: 17 | author: Vladimír Kaláb
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