Brno will not exchange residential buildings for land near the stadium, looking for other options

Brno - The Brno city council decided today that they will not exchange rental properties in the historical center of the city for the land necessary for the construction of the football stadium at Lužánky. Instead, they are trying to find non-residential properties to exchange for entrepreneur Libor Procházka. Mayor Petr Vokřál (ANO) did not specify which properties could be involved after today's council meeting. The value of the exchange is approximately 250 million crowns.

Vokřál emphasized that the city is trying to reach an agreement as soon as possible. Not only because they need to build the stadium, but also because they are paying Procházka millions for unjust enrichment, as they previously lost a court case concerning the public use of some of his areas as parking lots or roads. Vokřál lamented that this is a legacy of previous city administrations. Procházka is involved in several disputes with the city over payments. The dispute over the land has been ongoing for 13 years.

"If we do not reach an agreement, we will continue to pay Mr. Procházka what we are paying now, because he has already won some disputes definitively. There are further disputes pending in court and in the event of a bad outcome for the city, we would be paying 16 million a year. Currently, Mr. Procházka also holds another lawsuit; if we lose in court, the city will pay 38 million," warned Vokřál.

The city needs to acquire Procházka's underground garages, part of the properties connected to them, the Masada tennis courts, and the assets of Czech City, which are now undergoing legal review.

The city is trying to offer non-residential buildings and properties to avoid a repeat of the situation where tenants recently rebelled in the buildings that the council selected for Procházka. The tenants were concerned they would lose their homes or that the new owner would significantly raise the rent. As a result, the city district of Brno-střed, which manages the buildings, ultimately backed down. "However, if we want to build the stadium, we need valuable properties and conversely, we need to offer some," Vokřál said. "Every coalition club now has a representative in the negotiations, so there should not be a problem during the voting at the council," he added.

It is not yet clear whether the city will ultimately acquire only the real estate or the entire companies that manage the properties. "We have not yet resolved the legal form," Vokřál noted.

In searching for suitable properties, the city leadership encountered a number of obligations and contracts from the past, which according to Vokřál are "catastrophic relics" from the times of his predecessors. "For example, for a space that has a market rental value of 750,000 per year, the city receives 50,000 crowns. For the spaces occupied by McDonald's, we now receive four times more than in the past, after the previous contract ended. Meanwhile, some contracts have been closed for decades," Vokřál said.