Investor Palace Stromovka claims that health officials have prohibited residential apartments in it

Prague - The investor of the criticized Palace Stromovka in Prague 7, the company Lordship, claims that hygiene officials have prohibited apartments in the project. These are, however, demanded by the local council. Today, Lordship sent the media an electronic copy of the decision from the Hygiene Station of the Capital City of Prague, which indicates that the construction of apartments is not permissible in the given area. The reaction from the leadership of Prague 7's council is being sought by ČTK.
    According to a statement signed by the head of the department of general and communal hygiene, Ladislav Emberger, the construction of the Palace Stromovka was only permitted because "no residential units or other protected indoor spaces of the buildings, which have a hygiene noise limit even for protected outdoor spaces, are proposed in the building." According to him, valid legislative regulations imply that, given the existing noise burden in the project area, it is not possible to construct a building that includes residential units.
    "I believe that the professional and independent opinion, which is guaranteed by the hygiene station, will be sufficient evidence for the representatives of Prague 7 that it is not possible to construct a project containing apartments in the given locality. Hopefully, we will no longer be witnesses to further repeated and unfounded attacks against our company from the council," said Václav Matoušek, the director of Lordship.
    The company sent the opinion of the hygienists to the mayor of Prague 7, Jan Čižinský, on Friday. The council itself introduced its own study this spring on how it envisions the project. Among other things, it demands that a significant part of the future building includes apartments. However, according to the investor, the council’s study is "completely out of touch both temporally, locally, and economically."
    The company has a building permit for the first part of the project - the underground garages. It is now waiting for a decision on the building permit for the remaining part of the construction. The permit is to be issued by the Prague City Hall, and the deadline for the decision has already expired.
    The investor is also prepared for the possibility that the city district may terminate the lease agreement for the land where the construction is to take place. Local representatives urged Mayor Čižinský to prepare a proposal for termination at the end of last year. "In such a case, we would demand compensation. The costs incurred already exceed 800 million crowns. Just the purchase of the project cost more than 300 million crowns," Matoušek said earlier. The investor would demand further hundreds of millions of crowns as lost profit. The company has previously indicated that it is prepared to seek these funds from the Czech Republic through arbitration.
    Prague 7 signed a lease agreement for the land next to the Parkhotel in 2002 with the company SEN Development. In 2006, the British company Lordship purchased the project, just a few months after a valid zoning decision was issued for the construction. The lease agreement is for 75 years with the possibility of extension twice by 15 years. Over 105 years, the investor will pay around one billion crowns in rent to the city district. The new leadership of the council rejects the approved form of the project.