YIT rates the year 2020 as successful

YIT has managed to successfully overcome the unexpected challenges represented by the coronavirus pandemic and rates the year 2020 as successful.

They sold almost 300 apartments in Prague, achieving a turnover of almost CZK 2 billion. They still hold their position among the top five residential developers. They are preparing new projects in Prague 11, 12 and 15 and also in Pra-
gue 9, where they want to commence construction of the Lappi Hloubětín complex. This year, they also count with the final building approval of three projects. “What I consider the greatest success last year is that, despite difficulties associated with the pandemic, we led the planned projects to final building approval and sold all apartments from within the projects. This year will represent a big test for the entire market yet again and not only the development market. Still, we have confidence in ourselves and would be happy to offer 400 to 650 apartments, depending on how we manage to obtain building permits for specific projects. We are not slowing down in the preparation of our rental portfolio and negotiate with large local and foreign investment groups,” says Marek Lokaj, the new Managing Director at YIT Stavo, and adds: “As a result of the epidemic, we were forced to switch more to the use of online communication tools in the Spring time but it did not have a major impact on the residential market and on our strategic planning. An insufficient supply of apartments persists and the pressure from this huge demand motivates us to continue in the preparation of new projects and further acquisitions. The problem, however, lies in the lengthy permitting procedure, so we would welcome a simplification of conditions for development.”

The construction of the Suomi Hloubětín project continues

At the end of last year, the Suomi Hloubětín residential district, which will comprise almost 900 apartments, had three newly approved stages, namely Salo, Porvoo and Pori. The ninth phase of Vantaa is now under construction and will be completed in the autumn. The construction of a nursery school designed by the Finnish architect Jyrki Tasa, was commenced at the beginning of the year. In the vicinity of the growing complex, YIT is preparing the Lappi Hloubětín project, which is to connect to Suomi Hloubětín and form a unified unit with a total of approximately 1,200 apartments, including those intended for rental.

The first stage of the Ranta Barrandov project with 141 apartments was completed at the end of last year and work on the second phase is in progress. The second phase includes 118 units and should undergo final building approval by the end of this year. Another project under construction is the Parvi Cibulka residence, where the conversion of the former Meopta factory creates 150 original apartments. The architectural design of the reconstruction comes from the renowned architect Jakub Cigler. The rough structure is expected to be completed this April; by the summer of 2022, the individual units are to gradually undergo final building approval. In January this year, YIT launched the new Koti Libeň project with 140 energy efficient apartments. The rough structure should be completed in December 2021 and overall completion by the end of 2022.

The year 2021 in the spirit of new trends

The main strategic activity of YIT will continue to be the construction and sale of apartments for personal ownership. But the developer plans to focus more on rental housing this year. Therefore, YIT wants to designate about 200 new units for rent. In the future, there will be up to 500 such apartments. Another area that will be one of the priorities will be prefabrication. “We see enormous potential here. Thanks to the prefabricated parts we will achieve an even better execution of our projects and a significant reduction in construction time. At the same time, it will allow us to address labour shortages in the construction industry better. The first prefabricated bathroom was already a part of a show apartment in the Pori stage in Suomi Hloubětín. We also want to include them in the Lappi Hloubětín project,” explains Marek Lokaj. One of the main strategic priorities of the entire YIT Group in the field of ecology and sustainable development is the commitment to halve the company’s carbon footprint by 2030 as part of the company’s construction and development activities, this being from the level of 2019.

PR