In a recent report from the Environmental and Planning Department, the costs of renovating the former Adam and Eve adult megastore at Kleppsvegur 150 – 152 have shown to be significantly higher than originally projected.
The property was originally acquired for 625 million ISK by the City of Reykjavik in November of 2020 and will be converted into a kindergarten.
Borgarráð samþykkti á fundi sínum í morgun að kaupa hús. Ekki svo óalgengt en ég man ekki til þess að við höfum áður keypt hjálpartækjaverslun. Húsnæði Adams og Evu er nú okkar! 1/2 pic.twitter.com/csfVWdrdSA
— dagur@reykjavik.is (@Dagurb) November 12, 2020
Initial responses to the acquisition were positive, with many hopeful that the new kindergarten would revitalize the neighborhood.
However, while original projections for the cost of the conversion hovered around 600 million ISK, more recent projections have placed the cost around 1 billion.
In their statement, the Environmental and Planning Department said:
“It is now clear that if the building is to serve a new role satisfactorily as a safe and healthy kindergarten, the project must be approached in a different and more cost-effective way, but the scope and cost of the project is similar to new construction.”
Members of the Independence Party have been especially critical of the budget increases, noting that the per-child cost will be millions of krona higher than average.
Upon completion, the kindergarten will have room for 120 to 130 children.
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