Building work can now begin for the Nové Lauby Residence

This highly attractive development in the heart of the city centre, including parking facilities and various services, will be built by a private investor, the BBB Nové Lauby consortium. Construction will begin in April, and it must be finished within three years. This is one of the City’s key strategic projects to expand and enhance the range of rental apartments in Ostrava, helping to revitalize the city centre and develop vacant lots.

The Nové Lauby project, now entering its construction phase, was launched by the City in 2016 with the initial land use study. This first step was followed by three years of work to secure the necessary land use decisions and construction permits, as well as an archeological survey lasting more than two years, during which a public tender (lasting a year) was held to choose the investor. The archeologists finished their work at the site on Tuesday 2 March, and on the following day the City Assembly approved the contract with the chosen investor.

Ostrava’s Mayor Tomáš Macura gave more details of the project: “Nové Lauby is one of the City’s strategic projects with the goal of revitalizing, cultivating and developing Ostrava’s historic centre – which in the past has been very negatively affected by the presence of vacant lots and long-term underfunding. The project is based on a partnership between the City and a private investor. In simple terms, the City has drawn up the complete project documentation ensuring that the development will meet our precise requirements and expectations, and the investor will implement the project. After completion, part of the complex will be owned by the City (rental apartments and parking), and the other part will be owned by the investor. This is the first time that a partnership between the public and private sectors has been used for a new residential development in the Czech Republic.”

The winning consortium is made up of three construction companies from Prague and Ostrava, all of which have a long-term and stable market presence: BAK, Bystroň Group, and BBP stavby. The consortium members specialize in residential and hotel projects, civic amenities, retail facilities and office complexes.

The Nové Lauby complex will be situated on a plot of land bounded by four streets (Velká, Muzejní, Pivovarská and the extension of Dlouhá St.) in Ostrava city centre. Its five above-ground floors will contain 85 apartments ranging from single-room to four-room units. There will also be underground parking (173 spaces) and retail units. According to the construction permit documentation, the total cost of the building work will be 487 million CZK (excl. VAT). The BBB Nové Lauby consortium will reimburse the City for the full cost of the preparatory work as well as the archeological survey (total 32 million CZK excl. VAT), and it will also buy the land from the City (around 35.5 million CZK excl. VAT). On completion of the project, the City will purchase 31 apartments, 119 parking spaces and 17 cellar storage units, all for a total price of 252 million CZK (excl. VAT). The City-owned apartments will be offered for rental, and the parking spaces will be available not only for tenants, but also for the general public.

Zuzana Bajgarová, Ostrava’s Deputy Mayor with responsibility for investments, explained why the City chose this model: “There are several reasons. Firstly, economic considerations played an important role. The City is currently involved in a number of large-scale investments, and the use of private capital will enable us to complete these projects within a substantially shorter timespan. Secondly, we are keen to harness the experience and dynamism of the private sector to speed up the construction process itself. An important factor is investors’ motivation for building here in Ostrava, because this is crucial for future sustainable development. The contract has been designed to protect the City’s interests as much as possible; it guarantees that the construction will be completed on time, and to our preferred specifications.”

The site of the future complex is currently a vacant lot which used to be occupied by buildings before they were demolished in the 1960s having fallen into disrepair.

The Nové Lauby complex has been designed by the renowned architectural studio znamení čtyř – architekti. The studio has succeeded in its challenging task of designing a building for one of Ostrava’s most lucrative and attractive sites, a location with great historical value situated in the heart of the city’s urban heritage zone. The design takes the form of a traditional urban block, consisting of five buildings which each retain their own distinctive form while also combining to create a harmonious whole clustered around an inner courtyard area. The scale of the development is sensitive to the urban landscape of the city centre, and the design fits in harmoniously with its surroundings.