The dilapidated Elitex in Liberec is being transformed into a modern building

Liberec - The dilapidated building of the former Elitex is gradually transforming into a modern office building and is the second tallest building in Liberec after the regional office. The nearly 30-year-old, fourteen-story building was purchased from Czech Insurance by the company Elite office park from the development division of S group holding, which is investing around 200 million crowns into the purchase and reconstruction. Petr Myška, a member of the board of S group, told ČTK today. Part of the building will also be occupied by companies from the holding. The Syner Palace is no longer sufficient for the growing group that originated from the construction company Syner.
    According to Myška, practically only the concrete skeleton remains of the original Elitex building, completed in 1978. The internal layout will change, new installations and an outer shell are being added. The new appearance of the dominant feature of the lower part of the city center is gradually being revealed by the decreasing scaffolding. "Construction work will be completed in the spring of next year," Myška said. The so-called S tower will offer around 6200 square meters of office space for rent in the center, half of which is already reserved for future tenants, according to him.
    Elitex is not the only building in this part of the city that is changing its appearance. The entire lower center is undergoing reconstruction. Within a year, the first stage of the Forum shopping center, being constructed by MULTI Development, should be opened in close proximity to the municipal transport terminal. Then the old Tesco department store will be demolished and the second part of the shopping complex will rise in its place. At the same time, the parking garage opposite Elitex, which has also become part of the complex, is waiting for renovation. "We believe it will contribute to the revitalization of this part of the city," said Liberec Mayor Jiří Kittner to ČTK.
    The S group has its own Syner Palace just a stone's throw from Elitex, which it built nine years ago. However, the complex, which cost 400 million crowns, no longer meets current needs. "The palace was built at a time when the company was achieving a turnover of around 900 million crowns and had significantly fewer people; no one expected it to grow so much," Myška explained. Only the construction company's revenues, Syner, are estimated to reach around five billion crowns in this economic year, which ends at the end of March 2008. The entire S group, made up of 20 companies with about 1000 employees, expects a turnover of around eight billion crowns.
    Syner was founded in 1991 as a small family business in Liberec, but its activities have gradually expanded. This year, the company underwent transformation, and Syner has again become solely a construction company, while other activities have been encompassed by S group holding. The main sector of the group remains construction, in which it operates additional sister companies such as Manďák, CL-Evans, VHS Vysočina, and Syner Slovakia. The group’s activities also target foreign markets. Last year, it completed the construction of the Digital Park shopping and administrative center in Bratislava as a pilot project. The company is building apartments in the Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod and plans to build additional apartments and offices in Moscow. The group is also aiming for the United Arab Emirates, Romania, and Bulgaria.