Czech developer profits from an ageing population in Mirotice

Confin Development co-founders Jakub Jaroš and Lukáš Kobrle are turning an ordinary housing project in Mirotice into a pilot for a new line of business: homes for elderly people with dementia. Alongside the usual family houses, a 5,500-square-metre plot will now include a specialised 150-bed facility for people with Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia.

On the outskirts of the South Bohemian town of Mirotice, Confin Development has already completed and sold the first phase of a new residential development. The second phase — around 40 plots and 70 housing units — is due to be finished in 2026–2027. But it's the next step that makes the project stand out: the developer is moving beyond traditional housebuilding and investing in social infrastructure for an ageing population.

“From the very start we didn't see Mirotice as just a housing project. We wanted to build a new part of town that would work for the long term — and that includes the services people will need in the decades ahead,” says Confin Development co-founder Jakub Jaroš.

The business logic here is entirely pragmatic. Demand for housing fluctuates with interest rates and the economic cycle, but the need for elderly care keeps growing regardless of market conditions. In Europe such facilities have already become an attractive target for investment funds, while in Czechia this market is only just taking shape — most facilities are still run by regions, municipalities and non-profit organisations.

“There's already a shortage of places for elderly people today, and the need will only grow. We want to actively help create new capacity, drawing on our experience preparing projects for towns and municipalities,” explains the company's other co-founder, Lukáš Kobrle.

The Mirotice project marks a new stage for the entire Confin group, which rests on two pillars: Confin Partner has worked with municipalities on public infrastructure — from water and sewage systems to roads — for more than twenty years, while Confin Development adds housing development expertise to the mix. By combining both areas, the company aims to offer towns comprehensive solutions, from finding a suitable site and securing approvals to financing and construction.

The founders envision the new Mirotice quarter as a place where several generations can live side by side: alongside the family houses and the planned home for the elderly, a primary school and a nursery already operate there. “The goal isn't to create yet another anonymous dormitory suburb, but a new part of town that works for its residents at every stage of life,” Jaroš sums up.

By the Around Prague newsroom