An apartment building with 168 flats in Prague's Hloubětín district has changed hands. The residential fund Mint bought it from developer Finep. "This is not the construction of a new building, but the reconstruction of a former industrial building," said Tomáš Pardubický, Finep's chief executive. The former Veltex building on Poděbradská Street in Prague 9 will offer mainly smaller flats, mostly studio apartments, but also two- and three-room flats. "Our partners from Mint also participated in the design of the interior furnishings of the apartments. In this case, we were able to prepare the apartments and the entire building so that it would be efficient for both the tenants and those who will rent it out," Pardubický added. The reconstruction of the building in Prague 9 began in October this year and is expected to be completed in two years.

According to the daily e15.cz, this is currently the ninth such project sold by Finep. "This represents an investment opportunity for us," said Erik Janovský, investment manager at Mint. "We are rescuing a brownfield, a former industrial hall, and transforming it into apartments. With reference to its past, we have also played with atypical furnishings in the apartments, including sleeping floors, which make use of the high ceilings," Janovský said. Finep has previously announced that it wants to focus more on the rental housing market and build up to 5,000 rental apartments within five years, not only in Prague but also in Kralupy nad Vltavou, for example. This is the fourth acquisition for Mint after Vysočany in Prague, Brno and Plzeň. The aim, according to Janovský, is to offer rental housing to the middle class.