In Prague's Vysočany, the tallest residential building in the Czech Republic is rising

Prague - The highest residential building in the Czech Republic is rising in Prague's Vysočany district. Entrepreneur Vladimír Lederer, along with partners, has started the construction of a building that will have 25 floors, with a height of around 90 meters. The total investment in the project named Residence Eliška amounts to approximately half a billion crowns. Lederer stated this today in an interview with ČTK.
     There will be a total of 385 apartments in the new building, most of which will be studio apartments with a kitchenette, measuring around 33 square meters. "The emphasis on small apartments is not a crisis scenario; we have been preparing the project this way for years. Our target group includes, for example, young people and singles," Lederer noted. However, there will also be large luxury penthouses on the upper floors.
     Half of the apartments in the project were put on the market last autumn. "Sales are going very well; we have sold around 50 apartments so far," Lederer stated. The average price per square meter for the currently sold apartments is approximately 40,000 crowns.
     "We are not offering around 120 apartments on the lower floors for sale; we are considering renting them out," the builder informed. There is also the possibility that these units could serve as housing for seniors or alternatively for college students. The remaining luxury apartments on the upper floors will be put up for sale this summer.
     The developer will have to compete for buyers in Vysočany. Nearby, there are residential projects by companies like AFI Europe, BCD Group, or Finep.
     The high-rise building is being constructed for the developer by Metrostav since last autumn, with completion planned for autumn 2013. The construction work during this time will make it inconvenient for cyclists and pedestrians to move along the Vysočany bike path, notorious for its high construction costs. At Freyova Street, where cyclists enter the bridge that leads down to the park by the Rokytka stream, there is currently a construction pit. Consequently, users of the bike path will only be able to cross to the other side using a temporary staircase and a pedestrian crossing to a point from where they can continue along the bike path.
     The costs for demolishing and reconstructing part of the bike path through the current construction site are being covered by the joint-stock company Residence Eliška. Its head is Lederer, who holds the majority share.
     Lederer is also the main owner of the real estate and auction agency Gaudí. Together with his partners, he has completed nine medium and smaller real estate projects in the capital, totaling around 300 apartments. In Prague 5, he is preparing additional projects at Na Farkáně and Dívčí Hradech locations. Apart from the real estate business, Lederer also runs the Jazz Dock music club on Janáčkovo nábřeží in the capital.
     The building in Vysočany will, according to available data, be the highest purely residential building in the Czech Republic. Developer ECM had planned an even taller residential building in Prague at Pankrác named City Époque, but the company is currently in bankruptcy and is seeking creditor approval to sell the project. The tallest building in the Czech Republic is set to be the unfinished AZ Tower in Brno. This largely office building will stand around 110 meters high and is expected to have 30 above-ground floors.