Hradec Králové will establish the Koželužna Housing Cooperative for the construction of 90 apartments

Hradec Králové – The city of Hradec Králové will establish the Koželužna Housing Cooperative, which is set to build a building with 90 apartments in the Kukleny district. Apartment prices are expected to be around 25 percent lower than those in a standard development project, the city hall announced today. According to the decision made by the city council on Tuesday, the founding members will include not only Hradec Králové but also the Náchod Building Housing Cooperative and the company revitalizujeme.cz.

The planned residential block of cooperative housing by the city will be built near Pražská Avenue and the new square in the New Kukleny project, which will transform the brownfield of the former tannery. The area will be transformed according to the proposal from a consortium of Spanish architectural offices, Mach Office and Arame Studio from Barcelona, which won the international architectural and urban design competition announced by the city.

The project for the building permit for New Kukleny could be completed by the city in 2028. After obtaining the building permit, apartment reservations will begin. According to the city hall's vision, cooperative apartments are primarily intended for young families and households with moderate incomes.

"Cooperative housing may soon be the simplest way for many people to own their own apartment. The affordability mainly lies in the fact that you do not need to take out a mortgage, as the cooperative secures the loan," said Deputy Mayor for Property Pavel Vrbický (Pirates).

For entry into the housing cooperative, members will pay a one-time membership fee of 85,000 CZK, a basic membership contribution of 10,000 CZK, and subsequently a one-time payment of 25 percent of the apartment price, which could range from one million to 1.5 million CZK. The remaining apartment price will be repaid by the cooperative members in monthly payments over 25 or 30 years.

Last week, the city set up a contact form on its website to gauge interest in the apartments and the needs of future residents. "Less than a week after launching, we are already recording significant interest, with over 500 responses so far, and we expect more to come in gradually," Vrbický noted.

A project for purely developer-based cooperative housing is currently being established in the city. The company Coop development plans to build a building with 126 apartments on land purchased from the city. Construction is planned to start this fall, according to their website.