UBM Development Czechia sold 71 flats in 2023, a year that saw the company celebrate its 30th anniversary on the market. Thirty four of the sales took place at Astrid Garden, a 138-unit project in Prague 7’s Holešovice. The rest of the sales were for flats in in Arcus City, the project whose latest phase is Timber Praha – the city’s first apartment buildings made from wood. The company received user permits for 150 flats last year and topped out on three projects.
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“Czech legislation is blocking the wider development of timber structures by making it possible to build buildings with more than four storeys, which means 12 meters,” said director Jozef Wiedermann. To try to change this, UBM set up the Platform for Sustinable Wooden Construction with Prodes/Domesi. “More companies who think environmentally friendly construction is important are joining the platform.” He added that progress has been made already with some institutions that should enable the change, but that more work will have to be done to affect the needed changes to local laws.
In the meantime, UBM has been selling off assets that aren’t in line with the developer’s decision to focus on residential and office construction. Wiedermann says it will be working on its Na Plzence project and on a brownfield scheme in Smichov that will result in the creation of 150 flats and several retail units.
