The development company Thyrping has applied for permission to turn one of the unfinished luxury apartment towers on Reykjavik’s northern shore into a 160-room hotel. The head of the company says that the people who will have to decide on the application are the same people who previously wanted to build a 400-room hotel in the exact same neighbourhood.
Oddur Vidisson says that Thyrping is working with an Icelandic hotel chain, the owners of which are very interested in opening a 140-160-room hotel in the tallest tower at Skulagata. Thyrping has applied to the planning council to change the tower’s purpose due to difficulty in selling the still-incomplete luxury apartments. No official response to the application has been received yet.
Vidisson pointed to the fact that preparations for a 400-room hotel at the new national conference and concert centre have been dropped. The city and the state were very supportive of the original hotel idea, so Vidisson believes they should also give his idea serious consideration because it is only a few streets away from the conference centre.
Good idea for those Kreppa Towers. It is so depressing looking at them unfinished!
“due to difficulty in selling the still-incomplete luxury apartments”
What about to lower the price? Ever heard in Iceland about low price? Or in Norway?
“due to difficulty in selling the still-incomplete luxury apartments”
And what about completing them first? That’s the normal way to sell property when you’re not in a boom!
due to difficulty in selling the still-incomplete luxury apartments”What about to lower the price?
That what i donbt get.
Iceland’s banking systems collapses & there is a massive over supply of luxury flats and new build houses but you cant find a house or flat that is priced to to reflects any of these facts. Values are based on pre crisis/ bubble levels & havent altered since. Why would that be?
Practically there is no crisis in Iceland. All the prices of property keep nearly the same levels. All this propaganda about crises is to be send to the foreign creditors to make them give more credits to the Icelanders who will continue to live in the same credit way.
The reason the prices of the flats is still stupid expensive is that the amount of the loans to build them are still stupid high.
Until the value of the house and the amount of the loan are both cut by government intervention, this is the way it will remain. Of course there is no real relief in sight for property owners/developers with over inflated loans.
“What about to lower the price?”
Indeed, the problem in here we never lower prices no matter what, is nonsense and shows the greed that people and companies have where they still implement the 200% to 150% still has over the correct price.
Another thing, the construction has had problems since it was build…so much of “luxury” The tiles always damage and on the “way” to get fix, year after year!! Lame contractors and company and silly the people that payed for them just for the hype and now they are stuck living there and with a debt.
GIANT? YOU MEAN IN ICELANDIC TERMS… WHY DO YOU ALWAYS PRESENT THINGS AS IF THEY WERE SPECTACULAR STUFF?? THIS IS JUST TWO UNFINISHED BUILDING THAT ICELANDERS HAVE CATEGORIZED AS “LUXURY”… WELL, IT HAS TO BE LUXURY IN ICELANDIC TERMS AS WELL… BECAUSE THEY ARE CRAP AND LOOK JUST LIKE CRAP. YOU WOULD FIND GIANT LUXURY HOTELS IN LONDON, LAS VEGAS, CANARY ISLANDS, ACAPULCO, BARCELONA, PARIS… BUT THIS? ANOTHER ICELANDIC JOKE…
I AGREE WITH MOST OF THE PEOPLE POSTING HERE. THE ICELANDIC PROBLEM IS THAT THEY ALWAYS WANT THINGS TO APPEAR AS IF THEY WHERE THE BEST QUALITY, LUXURY AND SUCH… AND THEN THEY GO AND INFLATE PRICES… INFLATE.. INFLATE UNTIL BOOOOMM!!! EXPLODES ON THEIR FACES… HAHAHAHA…
MODESTY PLEASE…
“BECAUSE THEY ARE CRAP AND LOOK JUST LIKE CRAP”
I hate to say it, but I actually laughed out loud at that.
“MODESTY PLEASE…”
Indeed
“THE ICELANDIC PROBLEM IS THAT THEY ALWAYS WANT THINGS TO APPEAR AS IF THEY WHERE THE BEST QUALITY, LUXURY AND SUCH… ”
I don’t think it is an Icelandic thing, it is an universal thing, and happens at the late stages of debt-driven boom. High confidence, high expectations etc.
When the bust comes, most people eventually wise up and become more humble. Not all, though.
Icelandic real estate prices are still way too high in international comparison. That is due to the managed float of ISK. Icelandic prices looks very different at the rate of 185 ISK for 1 EUR than at the rate of 290-350.
“When the bust comes, most people eventually wise up and become more humble. Not all, though.”
Attack is the best defence, to be sorry or humble is for people with looser mentality,
we will find out what happened, punish the guilty people and use this experiance to further improve the Iclandic society until its perfect ;)
“Icelandic real estate prices are still way too high in international comparison. That is due to the managed float of ISK. Icelandic prices looks very different at the rate of 185 ISK for 1 EUR than at the rate of 290-350.”
The reason realestate prices have not fallen is because our indexed mortage loans have risen sharply because of inflation, so the loans are in many cases close to or over the current market price,
if the Kr falls it will bankrupt a small group of home owners who have mortages in foreign currency
and that will have little or no effect on the price of real estat,
the Kr will probably fall sooner or later and it will have no serious effect on anything here in Iceland, it has already fallen quite a lot without causing major problems, there are opportunitys in devaluation of the currency.
Jim said:
“And what about completing them first? That’s the normal way to sell property when you’re not in a boom!”
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Not necessarily, there is a long history in Iceland of a market for unfinished houses and probably more so in hard times.
In this case there there is not enough of market for the promise of finished apartments.
So instead of letting it rot there is another plan.
Ar you guys some kind of funeral chasers? or just have a warped humour?