Construction has already begun in Velká Úpa. The main event is still to come

VELKÁ ÚPA

The tranquility and rural atmosphere the residents of Velká Úpa were used to is slowly disappearing. Apartment construction has so far mainly taken place in Pec pod Sněžkou, but it has now moved into the „suburbs“ of the Krkonoše resort as well. Along the main road, a residence with 27 recreational apartments is rising, and construction of a complex with more than 150 apartments and commercial space is about to begin. On the site of the former Hotel Uran, the town has built a transfer point for hut-keepers and a turning point for ski buses.

The Úpa Resort apartment building is still far from finished, but its construction site has already noticeably transformed the look of Velká Úpa. A five-story building is rising next to the main parking lot, and a crane has become a temporary landmark of the town. Behind the project is the Hradec Králové-based company 3T Group real, which according to the land registry owns plots totaling 1,500 square meters.

The apartment complex is not due to be finished until December next year, yet more than a third of the apartments already have an owner or are reserved. The smallest ones start at nearly seven million crowns, while the largest, with an area of 149 square meters, is available for 24 million.

According to real estate agent Petr Kaplan of Svoboda & partneři, which is handling sales, the market for recreational apartments has picked up again: „The drop in mortgage interest rates has had a big impact – since April the market has started moving again. Every month we negotiate with plenty of clients. Unlike Pec, Velká Úpa is a location not yet burdened by overtourism, and it's attractive to clients. I have no doubt that by the time construction is finished, we'll have sold the apartments.“

That project, however, is only the vanguard of a far more fundamental transformation of Velká Úpa, which is apparently going to begin very soon. The investment fund Aequitas Capital Investment, founded by lawyer and insolvency administrator Jan Langmeier, is preparing a huge development project, Rezidence Pod Portáškami, covering a total area of 7,100 square meters. The investor plans to build 159 recreational apartments in six buildings. There will also be commercial space for shops, services, or doctors' offices. Five existing buildings will make way for the residence, including a former pub, Hotel Hela, a rental shop, and a bowling alley, all of which have been closed for years.

Waiting for the building permit

Demolition was supposed to start this year, but the investor still does not have a building permit. Work is now expected to begin in the first half of next year. A short distance from where the apartment village will rise is the lower station of the cable car, and ski slopes lead down to it here. The coming winter season will not yet be affected by construction activity.

„We expect demolition to begin, in line with the timing of the building permit, only next year, after the ski season ends,“ confirmed Jiří Baumruk, communications director of the Aequitas group. New legislation caused the delay.

„There was some extension caused by the new Building Act coming into effect, since this changed which building authority has jurisdiction, and that meant transferring the file to a new authority,“ Baumruk noted.

Originally the developer planned to build four buildings with 110 apartments along the main road in Velká Úpa. Later the project was expanded to seven buildings and 172 apartments. After negotiations with the town and property owners, it reduced the number of buildings to six. The investment fund's first major undertaking in the Krkonoše was a 30-apartment building in Herlíkovice near Vrchlabí, completed in 2023.

On the public space opposite the Úpa Resort construction site, where the dilapidated Hotel Uran once stood, there is now a transfer point for hut-keepers and a ski-bus turning point. The work is nearly finished, and the new facility will be used during the winter season. Lockers are still to be installed in the covered booths. „It's a service for locals and business owners. In winter, hut-keepers will be able to pick up goods that suppliers deliver to the transfer point. Guests will also be able to leave luggage there. There's also a notice board and benches will be added,“ listed Pec's mayor Ilona Karlíková (independent). The town invested around twelve million crowns in the new turning point and transfer facility.

Pec pod Sněžkou bought Uran in 2021 for 20 million crowns and had it demolished shortly after. In addition to the transfer point, the previous town administration had planned a multi-purpose building with an information center, public toilets, and service facilities. According to the mayor, that will not now be built. The first inn on the site of Hotel Uran served visitors as early as the end of the 19th century. It took on its modern form in the 1930s, when it was called Seitz. After nationalization in 1948, the hotel became a trade-union recovery home called Kolektiv. It only took the name Uran after 1989. It had several tenants over the years, but the building gradually fell into disrepair. As late as 2005, ski-school instructors still slept there in winter. After the new road and cable car were built in 1968 and the parking lot was constructed, the area behind Uran became the center of Velká Úpa.

Tranquility is a thing of the past The residents of Velká Úpa will have to get used to the presence of builders. Dozens of apartments will be built here.

Author: Tomáš Plecháč, MF DNES reporter Photo: Martin Veselý, MAFRA

Source: MLADÁ FRONTA DNES