Wednesday, November 28, 2001

Fantasy, heraldry and realty By Susan Ondrasek Best of Realty's third annual gala dinner and awards night Nov. 21 combined fantasy, high-tech wizardry and a bit of spirituality. The candle-lit Sacre Coeur, a former Benedictine monastery, set a mystical tone as guests entered to the sounds of sacred church music. Overhead videos displayed nominated projects, participants and a swirl of images. Dancing topped off the night. Tomas van Zavrel, founder of Best of Realty and director of Parnas Property Investment, and Carolyn Carr, marketing manager of Parnas, hosted the award ceremony that recognizes the best properties in the country. About 185 members of the real-estate community attended to find out who would take home the blue-glass orb awards. Olympia Brno in Modrice near Brno, developed by Tristannifer Management, won first place for shopping centers. Futurum Ostrava in Ostrava, developed by TK Development, won second place and Plan & Bau's Park Hostivar was third. Rentalkon's Rezidence Kavci hory in Prague 4-Pankrac won first place for residential developments. Obytni park Troja in Prague 8-Troja, developed by Opus Immobilien, received second place and Primed's Apartments Maria in Marianske lazne earned third place. Real Estate Karlin scooped up the first award for refurbished offices for the second year in a row. Corso Karlin won this year and Palac Karlin won last year. Second place went to Orco Property Group's headquarters and office space, Londynska 41 in Prague 2. Last year the Prague 2 developer won the first place for residential developments. Third place went to Krakovska 9 by Swedish-based Ikano. Office Park Nove Butovice in Prague 5, developed by Austrian-based Property Development Partners, won first place for business centers. Zlaty Andel, an ING Real Estate project in Prague 5-Smichov won second place. Czech Technology Park in Brno, which won first place for office space outside of Prague in 1999, captured third place for its Listova building. The Holiday Inn Prague Congress Centre in Prague 4-Pankrac, won the hotel developments category. Targa Hotels is the developer. U Zlate studny, owned by Film Group 555, won second place and Gestin's Renaissance Hotel picked up third. Both are in Prague 1. A surprise was the Special Commendation of the Jury for two tenants at Komunardu 32, Prague 7. In addition to creating their design centers, Tunnel and Swiss-based Vitra, custom interior designers and furniture specialists, collaborated on a cafe for the building. Please send your comments to: Susan Ondrasek, The Prague Post, Stepanska 20, 110 00 Prague 1 Tel. 9633 4428, fax: 9633 4450 e-mail: sondrasek@praguepost.cz More business stories Working for less The gap between expat and Czech pay is slowly shrinking Where to invest in troubled times Crown-denominated bonds provide safety and high returns Falling oil prices to benefit economy Lower costs steady inflation, trade balance Reviving the CD business Will new label 's low-cost recordings sell? Tourism down, but hope shines through Industry expects revenue boost as season starts Zeman courts U.S. investors Military technology seen as sector with most potential Movers & Shakers Hamill to manage Antal International