Kupari, a former military resort just a few kilometres from Dubrovnik that was destroyed in the Homeland War in 1991 and has remained untouched for the past 30 years. The seafront site is an ideal location for a hotel resort, however it is also a reminder that investing into Croatia is complicated. As with most real estate projects the Kupari site had numerous owners, bundles of paperwork and building restrictions. In fact, it often takes twice as long just to collect all the necessary paperwork to start construction than it does to actually build.
However, and after a bumpy start, Kupari has found a new owner and a project is in the pipeline. And this week representatives of the company Avenue Investment Ltd, Alina Yuvakajeva and Marijana Tkac, met with the head councillor of the Župa dubrovačka borough, Silvio Nardelli, to discuss the project. The meeting was also attended by the architect from the renowned Croatian company 3LHD Marko Dabrović.
“After two meetings at the Ministry of Construction and State Property at our request about the implementation of the Kupari project and in accordance with the promises of investors that they would come to Župa dubrovačka in January this year with detailed information about the project, this is what happened. Admittedly, with a delay of a month because a member of the Board of Avenue Investments fell ill with Covid-19. We were especially interested in the stage of preparation of the project documentation of the Kupari project. Let us remind you that at this time last year, the Municipality of Župa dubrovačka fulfilled its obligations under the Agreement with the Government of the Republic of Croatia, regarding the preparation of the Urban Development Plan Kupari 1. That was in February last year, and the deadline for drafting the entire project documentation is two years,” stated Nardelli.
Meaning that all project documentation should have been completed by February 2022. And that actual work on constructing the new hotel complex should begin that same year. The deadline for constructing the new hotel complex is four years. In other words, six years from the start of the project to the grand opening.
Nardelli added that they had received information from investors that the preliminary design is in the development phase, and it is expected that in June this year they would apply for a location permit, and after obtaining that permit, the development of the main implementation project will begin. An agreement between the investor and the company 3LHD was signed earlier, for complete project documentation, not only for the development of the preliminary design, but also the main and detailed design.
“Apart from the company 3LHD, a lot of international experts are involved in the preparation of project documentation. As far as the dynamics of the documentation is concerned, after obtaining the location permit, which is expected in June, in accordance with the already signed Contract, the preparation of the main detailed design will begin. We were especially interested in the investor's plan to demolish the existing buildings that the project envisages for removal, and these are practically all buildings except the Grand Hotel, which is under conservation protection and will be reconstructed according to conservation guidelines,” concluded Nardelli.
