Real Estate, page 15
Housing and investment in Slovakia
PANORAMA CITY – The Bratislava Manhattan
Just a few steps away from the Danube promenade, close to the Eurovea shopping centre and the Slovak National Theatre, two slim residential towers in the form of a triangle will rise, and with their height of 108 metres, they are to become part of the vista of the capital, and also the tallest residential towers in Slovakia. The basic concept of Panorama City was designed by world renowned architect Ricardo Bofill from Barcelona. The studio of Slovak architect Juraj Hermann – who is a recipient of many architectural awards, too – picked up the threads of Bofill’s work.
YIT Reding bringing to Bratislava the Finnish style of housing
Finnish-Slovak developer YIT Reding belongs to the remarkable and unique group of developers, which are catchy and memorable not only thanks to its attitude to their own projects but also to their immediate surroundings. Modern approach, open communication and the clean ways and methods are one of signs of exceptionality and rarity of the brand YIT Reding. YIT Reding has been active in Slovakia since 2010, when the Finnish company YIT merged with the Slovak Reding, a.s.
BioEko Tech SK eyes Slovakia
POLISH firm BioEko Tech SK plans to build a plant to make special construction materials in Šaštín-Stráže. Radovan Prstek, the mayor of Šaštín-Stráže, explained that the company decided to do so because of the exceptional quality of the sand in local deposits. The new plant should produce mortars, coatings and other mixtures used in construction, the SITA newswire wrote in mid November.
Highway construction remains a hot topic
AFTER the economic crisis hit the construction sector in Slovakia, many construction companies hoped that state orders, especially in highway building, would provide enough work to keep them afloat. New highways could also be of a considerable benefit to the whole country and its economy, with Slovak businesses and foreign investors alike keen to see the backbone highway connecting Bratislava and Košice via Žilina finally completed. However, an uninterrupted multi-lane road connecting the country’s two biggest cities still remains a fairly distant prospect. This is not only because of a lack of money but also because of constant changes in the state’s approach to highway construction. One analyst is calling for highway construction to be freed of political influence and for experts to be left to continue projects started by previous governments.
Welcome to the Prefab Story!
MASS housing construction in Slovakia, at least in terms of how it is now generally perceived by the public, was very closely connected with the pre-1989 communist regime, under which the lives of Slovaks were tightly controlled by the totalitarian power of the state. But mass construction of prefabricated buildings for residential housing – the building of huge housing estates – was also an answer to changing social and economic conditions after World War II, new technologies available to the construction industry, and the conviction of many architects of that time that every person had the right to some kind of roof over one’s head. And it was not only Czechoslovakia that responded to these forces in this way: many other countries launched mass construction schemes in the aftermath of the war.
Holcim and VSH to merge in Slovakia
ROHOŽNÍK-based construction materials producer Holcim (Slovensko) has started the process of merging with Východoslovenské Stavebné Hmoty (VSH) based in Turňa nad Bodvou, the SITA newswire reported on November 3. For now the companies will continue to operate independently with their own managements, but will merge fully in the near future.
Making energy efficiency certificates matter
SLOVAKIA introduced an energy certification scheme for buildings at the start of 2008. In doing so it joined efforts within the European Union to reduce the amount of energy consumed in buildings. While much work has already been done, the energy awareness of Slovaks remains low, especially when compared with other countries in Europe, and there are still many areas where improvements can be made. Experts harbour significant reservations about the way the current scheme operates and how certificates are issued, and say meaningful support from the state to achieve better energy performance in buildings is lacking.
Institutions and organisations in the construction industry in Slovakia
Ministry of Transport, Construction and RegionalDevelopment,www.telecom.gov.skAssociation of Construction Entrepreneurs of Slovakia,www.zsps.sk Building Testing and Research Institute,www.tsus.sk National Highway Company,www.ndsas.sk Slovak Green Building Council,www.skgbc.org Slovak Chamber of Architects,www.komoraarchitektov.sk Slovak Chamber of Civil Engineers,www.sksi.sk Slovak Public-Private Partnership Association,www.asociaciappp.sk State Housing Development Fund (ŠFRB),www.sfrb.sk
More polystyrene consumed
CONSUMPTION of expanded polystyrene (EPS) as an insulation material in Slovakia is growing. During the first nine months of 2011 it grew by 3 percent year-on-year. The Association of Producers, Processors, and Users of Expanded Polystyrene in Slovakia reported the growth on November 2, 2011. Consumption of EPS rose by 10.5 percent to 30,000 tonnes in 2010, thus nearing the record of 30,050 tonnes set in 2008, the SITA newswire wrote.
Biggest construction companies in Slovakia
Ranking of firms according to sales in 2010:1. Doprastav, Bratislava (€311 million)2. ZIPP Bratislava (€273.4 million)3. Strabag, Bratislava (€164.5 million)4. Váhostav-SK, Žilina (€152 million)5. Skanska SK, Bratislava (€126 million)6. Inžinierske Stavby, Košice (€115.9 million)7. Eurovia SK, Košice (€98 million)8. Ingsteel, Bratislava (€85.5 million)
Construction output contracted in 2011
CONSTRUCTION has been one of the hardest hit sectors during the ongoing economic turbulence. And with the fall of the government in Slovakia, the European sovereign debt crisis and more negative economic news recently, industry players expect that the sector could continue to contract in 2012 as well.
Slovak tunnel experts dig in Finland
EXPERTS from Tunely SK, part of the Slovak arm of global construction firm Skanska, headquartered in Sweden, have joined a project to construct a railway line connecting the centre of the Finnish capital, Helsinki, with the city’s main airport at Vantaa. Slovak tunnel-building specialists will carry work worth €1 million and widen an 800-metre section of the tunnel for local company Skanska Infra OY, the SITA newswire reported on February 2.
Firm blames results on past decisions
SALES of the construction company Skanska in 2011 shrank 19 percent to €777 million (CZK19.5 billion) in Slovakia and the Czech Republic. The operating profit of the company also slipped, from €46.9 million (CZK1.176 billion) in 2010 to €6.18 million (CZK155 million) in 2011, the company announced in a press release in mid February.
Construction awards distributed
AWARDS for the 17th year of Slovakia’s prestigious national construction competition, Construction of the Year 2011, were handed out in Bratislava on October 19. The objective of the competition, which is organised by the Association for the Development of Slovakia’s Architecture and Construction Industry (ABF Slovakia), is to support “the quality of complex execution of engineering works as an integral part of the integrated system of quality assurance procedures in the construction process and the construction industry”, according to the website of the competition.
‘Green’ is more than a colour when talking about buildings
SUSTAINABLE architecture and ‘green buildings’ have become an important component of architects’ and builders’ thinking in many highly-developed parts of the world. While Slovakia lags somewhat behind in this trend, the first shoots of spring growth have been spotted here. Those experts who hope to see the concept take further root expect that recent positive examples that demonstrate that it is worthwhile to be eco-friendly can convince more Slovak builders, architects and developers to give it a try.
Banks remain cautious lenders
THE FINANCING of central and eastern European real estate has shown signs of improvement during the last 12 months but the situation remains uncertain. There has been a significant increase in real estate investment transactions compared to 2010, but the performance of real estate has varied greatly across different countries and asset classes.
Delinquent real estate auctions
FINANCIAL problems faced by the owners of real estate are sending more reclaimed properties to the auction block in Slovakia. The number of auctioned properties is well above the level before 2009 and the number of such properties that could be tagged as luxurious is increasing, according to Martin Krnčan from Dražobná Spoločnosť, an auction company, the TASR newswire wrote in early August.
Regulated rents remain a problem
EVEN though 22 years have elapsed since the fall of the communist regime, some issues linger from then and are still unresolved. One of these is the issue of regulated rents in properties which were confiscated by the communist state but then returned – but with their sitting tenants – to their pre-communist owners in the post-1989 process of restitution.
Prices keep falling
THE 2008-2009 economic crisis and current concerns about the future of the euro and the possibility of another global recession have had a significant impact on Slovakia’s real estate market. Even though the average sales price per square metre of residential real estate in Bratislava has decreased for the past three years many young people are continuing to search for smaller and more affordable flats.
CE.ZA.AR awards announced
FRESH projects by young architects – this is what captured the attention of Czech architect Jiří Suchomel in the works submitted for the tenth year of the CE.ZA.AR architecture competition. The winning architects accepted their prizes in the annual competition organised by the Slovak Chamber of Architects for their “excellent professional accomplishments in completing architectural works that significantly contribute to the enrichment of Slovak culture” at a gala event on October 13.
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