In Vinohrady, a controversial administrative building Crystal is rising

Prague - In Prague's Vinohrady, opposite the Olšany Cemeteries, the Crystal administrative building is rising, against which local civic associations unsuccessfully protested. The developer Prague Real Estate Invest from the GES Real group announced at today’s ceremonial completion of the rough construction that the building will be completed by April 30th next year.
      The administrative building, located near the Želivského metro station and adjacent to the Casablanca skyscraper, will offer 14,440 m² of rental office space on 14 above-ground floors. In the four underground floors, there will be, in addition to storage and technical facilities, also 121 parking spaces.
      "Currently, we have already preliminarily rented out 40 percent of the building," said Jan Kraus, a member of the board of GES Real, to ČTK. The fact that there is currently no sufficiently large administrative building with modern office spaces in this part of Vinohrady helps the developer in finding tenants.
      In the past, local civic associations protested against the building, pointing out not only its unusual appearance, which they claimed is unsuitable for the Vinohrady architecture, but also the non-transparent approval process for the construction. Originally, a four-story residential building was supposed to be built in the gap, which gradually changed to its current form.
      There was also talk that TV Prima would move into the building, as its co-owner is the entrepreneur Ivan Zach, who also owns the GES Real group. However, this plan eventually fell through.
      The construction of office buildings in the capital has experienced a significant boom in recent months, with developers responding to the increasing rental activity of companies. In just the third quarter of this year, companies rented 93,100 m² in Prague, representing a year-on-year increase of 77%. The largest volume of rentals took place in Prague 4 (40%), Prague 8 (16%), and Prague 1 (14%).