Instead of a distillery in Smíchov, an area with 500 apartments will be built

Prague - A complex with 500 apartments will be built instead of the distillery in Prague's Smíchov. Construction should begin in 2017, and it is expected to be completed in about five to six years. The development will cost approximately 1.25 billion, the company Zlatý lihovar, which owns the land, informed the press today. From the original buildings of the more than 150-year-old distillery, the former brewing room and the fifty-meter chimney will remain. Production of spirits was halted in 2001, and since then the premises have been deteriorating and are currently empty.
    On an area of approximately 2.2 hectares between Strakonická Street and the railway track, several apartment buildings with units ranging from 1+kk to 3+kk, and several larger ones on the upper floors with views of the river and Vyšehrad, will be built in three phases. Apartment prices will average around 65,000 crowns per square meter, while the larger units will cost 125,000 crowns per square meter.
    “We will reconstruct the original distillery building, the brewing room from the early 19th century, and the fifty-meter polygonal brick chimney, which are protected as cultural heritage, and we will naturally integrate them into the project’s concept,” said Michael Bartnett, who is the owner of the investor, Goldfin Investment.
    In the newly created area, only five percent of the space will be for civic amenities. The reconstructed building of the historical distillery brewing room could serve as a shop or restaurant. The company anticipates development around the Smíchov station, where additional commercial spaces are also expected to arise. Noise from the busy Strašnická Street should be addressed by double facades of the houses or greenery around and inside the area, according to architect Tomáš Kaňka.
    The oldest buildings in the distillery date back to 1836, and a factory for spirits and potash was established there in 1880. The distillery was rebuilt in 1907, and it is from this time that the current form of the central building of the complex - the spirit refinery - originates. In 1957, part of the then non-functional potash factory was converted into a vinegar factory.
    Production of spirits and vinegar ceased in 2001, and since then the distillery has been without use. Two years ago, part of the distillery collapsed. Besides the brewing room and the chimney, no buildings are to be preserved.