Radek Menšík develops Svitava riverbank into 900 Brno flats

Entrepreneur Radek Menšík, owner of the development company UDI Group, is building almost 900 new flats in Brno's Husovice district on the site of a former industrial complex demolished several years ago. Investment in the project is estimated at around four billion crowns.

The company bought the site, which held 28 factory buildings of varying heights, several years ago and gradually tore down the old structures. In their place has risen the Urban Park residential project, split into two phases. The first was designed by the Havaček & Partner studio, and the second, larger phase by Arch.Design. It is this second phase, dominated by compact 1+kk flats, that recently received final building permission.

The project stands close to the famous Tugendhat Villa and includes not only residential buildings but also two mixed-use buildings, landscaped public spaces, new greenery and the redevelopment of the neighbouring city park. “We are continuing to turn a long-closed site into a living part of the city,” says UDI Group executive director Jakub Malý.

UDI Group itself now operates in six markets across two continents: besides Czechia, it is building in Poland, Serbia, Hungary, Panama and Costa Rica.

The whole surrounding district is changing too — on the opposite bank of the Svitava River, on the site of the former “Zbrojovka Brno” arms factory, billionaire Radovan Vítek's CPI Property Group is carrying out an even larger project: 2,500 flats, a kindergarten, a school, a new 85-metre bridge over the river and a town square. Together, the two projects are effectively creating a new residential quarter in Brno.