The functionalist post office at the main train station in Brno has been auctioned

Brno – The functionalist building of the Czech Post near the main train station in Brno was today auctioned off in an electronic auction for the starting price of 117 million Czech crowns. Ivo Vysoudil, a spokesman for the post office, told ČTK that the post office does not have permission to disclose the name of the auction winner. He added that the Czech Railways have a right of first refusal on the property, and the post office will contact them and offer it to them at this price.

The Czech Post had previously stated that it has been considering the future of the building designed by architect Bohuslav Fuchs for some time, as the building does not meet its operational needs, is uneconomical, and unnecessarily oversized. Instead of a branch right next to the main train station, the post office plans to open two new branches – one in the Letmo Shopping Center across from the station and one in the Šumavská Tower building in the Královo Pole district. However, the post office will operate at its current location at least until the middle of next year.

Today’s auction was the second attempt to sell the functionalist building. No one registered for the first electronic auction in mid-October, while in today’s auction the building was sold for the starting price of 117 million crowns. "This implies that no one bid higher. Negotiations with the auction winner will now begin. At the same time, we must contact the Czech Railways, which have a right of first refusal on the building. Thanks to the auction, the market price of the property has been established, and the Czech Post will offer it to the railways at this price," Vysoudil said.

The station post office, according to Bohuslav Fuchs' design, was built in the late 1930s as a temporary solution. Even then, there were considerations about relocating the Brno station, which is why Fuchs proposed a lightweight steel structure for the building to make it easily dismantled. A rarity of the building is currently the paternoster elevator, which the post office had repaired to working condition in 2013. The building was partially renovated in the 1980s, but it currently requires a complete reconstruction.