*Leyndardómur Víðimelur 29

Víðimelur 29, Reykjavík, November 2025:

Víðimelur 29, Reykjavík, November 2022:

It has been at least three years that this apartment building (in the desirable Vesturbæjar area in Reykjavík) has been undergoing restoration. There are proper front doors now (top image) but any further work seems frozen in time. My daily walk to Vesturbæjarlaug (neighborhood swimming pool) often went by this handsome and sizeable structure (it appears to contain at least eight units) and is the biggest house-like structure of its kind in the area.

This situation begs the question: What is going on here?

The City of Reykjavík has been suffering from a housing shortage for several years now, there certainly wouldn’t be any problem filling it with renters. Last year the city made short-term rentals (i.e., Airbnbs) prohibited in non-summer months, ostensibly to increase supply during the school year (the University is a couple of blocks away.) Rather than alleviate the situation the move favored hotels but penalized private owners from benefiting from renting out spare rooms or flats. Víðimelur 29 would be perfect for either use but sits empty. Perhaps the property owner/contractor went bankrupt or was incapacitated in some way.

I’m not an expert on Icelandic real estate but no matter what the situation here it seems that something funny going on at Víðimelur 29, perhaps Inspector Erlendur could look into it.

*Leyndardómur= mystery