New Center of Ostrava: Shops, Offices, Apartments, and a Community Hall

Ostrava, May 2 (ČTK) - The first concrete outlines have emerged for the area of the former Karolina coke plant near the center of Ostrava, which is seven times larger than Prague's Wenceslas Square. By the middle of 2010, a center with shops and entertainment, office buildings, a residential building with two hundred apartments, and spaces for social and sports activities should be built on this site; further construction will continue until 2016. Representatives of the Dutch company Multi Development, which will be responsible for the construction, presented the architectural designs of the buildings included in the first phase to journalists today.
    "Upon completion, Nová Karolina will be the largest regeneration project in the inner city of the Czech Republic," said Luboš Kočí, the general director of the Czech subsidiary of Multi Development.
    The dominant feature of the area is expected to be a modern shopping and leisure center covering approximately 50,000 square meters, designed by the OMA office led by renowned architect Rem Koolhaas. "It's a kind of game of blocks. Some of them have completely open sides, while others have closed walls," one of the designers, Floris Alkemade, stated.
    Renovation of the historical buildings of the headquarters and the power plant, known as the double hall, is also in preparation, which will remain in their original state as cultural monuments. Inside, unique spaces for concerts or sports events and smaller corners suitable for exhibitions are expected to be created.
    The company is now waiting for the issuance of a zoning decision, and construction work is expected to begin next spring. The first phase should be completed by mid-2010, with the completion of the entire complex expected in 2016. The total area of the project represents approximately 85,000 square meters of retail space, 60,000 m2 of offices, 70,000 m2 of residential development, and 3,500 parking spaces. The company intends to invest around 15 billion crowns in the construction.
    Multi Development has so far invested in 18 countries worldwide. In the Czech Republic, it has completed projects such as the Olympia shopping and entertainment centers in Plzeň and Olomouc and the Chodov Center in Prague. The company focuses on the construction of urban, commercial, and administrative centers throughout Europe.