The site of the sophisticated new Eurovea development certainly exceeded my expectations.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Bratislava, Slovakia
Read more about European real estate in International Living Postcards—your daily escape
It’s not every day you find yourself sharing a bedroom with the wife of the Slovak foreign minister…
I’ve gate-crashed a launch party in Bratislava, Slovakia’s capital. The bedroom in question is in a show apartment in the Eurovea project. This grand-scale residential, retail, office, and leisure complex is taking shape on the banks of the Danube, one of Europe’s most celebrated waterways.
On billboards all over Bratislava, Eurovea is described as Central Europe’s most desirable residential address: the ultimate in riverside city living. Which is why I’ve crashed the launch—I didn’t realize it was “invitation only.”
If I’d known, I probably wouldn’t have turned up at the building site in jeans and ski jacket. But once he understood I was a journalist, the security guard at the gate called for a chauffeured car to take me to the Eurovea Pavilion.
I’m hard to impress, but in this case the reality certainly exceeded the marketing hype. As far as plans for urban projects go, I’ve never seen anything so stylishly sophisticated. The size of 16 football pitches, Eurovea’s concept is to extend the historic city down to the banks of the Danube. You can see Bratislava Castle looming on a hill, and the heart of the old center is only a short walk.
Eurovea’s first phase will include luxury apartments, an upscale mall, 24,000 square meters of grade-A office space, a five-star Sheraton hotel, and a riverside park with leisure and entertainment facilities, plus a new landing dock for hydrofoils from Vienna. Already built and functioning, the Slovak National Theatre will become part of the complex—the main focus of a new city square.
I’ve no reason to doubt that Irish developers Ballymore won’t deliver. They built a number of flagship developments in London’s regenerated Docklands, as well as in other European capitals.
There are only 254 apartments in Phase One, and they are already selling quickly.
How much? Well, way above anything I’ve seen so far, but this is true waterfront luxury in an easily accessible European capital. Prices start at $421,374 for a 36-square-meter studio. One-bedroom, 59-square-meter units start at $781,434.
Yes, prices starting at $11,700 per square meter are the most expensive in the city…but you can buy well in Bratislava for far less.
In the sought-after Old Town ( Staré Mesto), prices start at $3,000 per square meter…and restored apartments cost up to $5,000 per square meter. A five-minute walk from Old Town, prices drop to $3,200 per square meter.
Latest official figures for Bratislava overall are $2,380 per square meter…and apartments in one appealing new project start at $2,470 per square meter. It’s on the city’s edge among vineyards, but you’ll hear about this and other new developments in the upcoming issue of International Living magazine.
Steenie Harvey
Roving Europe Editor, International Living
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