The land in Karolína now belongs to the winner of the development competition

Ostrava - The mayor of Ostrava, Aleš Zedník, today signed a purchase agreement with the company Multi Development, which, after winning a developer competition, will build a new part of the city center on the former site of the Karolina coke plant in Ostrava. The lands at Karolina now belong to this Dutch company. The firm plans to invest approximately 15 billion crowns into one of the most significant development projects. The construction is divided into four phases and will take about ten years. Luboš Kočí, the director of the company for the Czech Republic, told ČTK today.
"Each phase is capable of living its own life. The first phase includes the area closest to the Frýdlantské bridges up to the Dvojhalí building," Kočí explained. In the first phase, a new boulevard with a square will be constructed, and a shopping center will also be built. Construction could begin around the beginning of 2008.
The new part of the city is expected to include not only office spaces and a new shopping and entertainment center but also apartments. The retail and entertainment center will have commercial units for rent. Office spaces will also be rented out. However, after filling these spaces, the company does not rule out that they may sell them to some investor. On the other hand, regarding the apartments, it is expected that they will be sold directly to interested parties.
The company plans to start the selection processes around next winter. "All tenders will essentially be open, but each company is good for something and each is predetermined to something by its size," noted Kočí. The company, which purchased the historic Dvojhalí building before the developer competition, expects that this facility will not be profitable in the future. Therefore, the building will likely serve cultural purposes as the mayor had envisioned.
Karolina is more than seven times larger than Wenceslas Square. The Multi Development company has so far invested in 18 countries worldwide. In the Czech Republic, it has completed, for example, the Olympia shopping and entertainment centers in Plzeň and Olomouc or the Chodov Center in Prague. The company is involved in the construction of urban, commercial, and administrative centers across Europe.

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> Ostrava approved a contract with the developer who will develop Karolina [10/4/2006]
> Developer will build half of Karolina with buildings [9/14/2006]
> Multi Development won the competition for the development of Karolina [6/28/2006]
> Multi Development aims to develop Karolina by 2016 [6/28/2006]
> The people of Ostrava chose their favorites for Karolina in a survey [6/26/2006]
> Models of the Karolina development are displayed at the city hall in Ostrava [5/2/2006]
> Five interested parties registered for the Karolina development competition [4/30/2006]
> The chief architect of Ostrava is being pursued by the police [4/19/2006]
> The chief architect of Ostrava has not yet been excluded from the chamber [4/13/2006]
> Protests against the development competition for Karolina began in Ostrava [1/9/2006]
> Architects suspect the leadership of Ostrava of corruption over Karolina [11/30/2005]
> The city of Ostrava is considering holding a competition to revitalize Karolina [10/24/2005]
> Architect: Decisions about the Karolina area are dictated by the investor's requirements [9/21/2005]